


Beyond the Mirror

by Bravehardt, Foxglove_Fiction



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Asphyxiation, Don't copy to another site, Double Penetration, Edge Play, Fluff and Angst, IronStrange, M/M, Non-Consensual Bondage, Porn based plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Rough Oral Sex, Selfcest, Sexual Coercion, Sexual Humor, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 05:05:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17073950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bravehardt/pseuds/Bravehardt, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxglove_Fiction/pseuds/Foxglove_Fiction
Summary: Stephen is frequented by an apparition of himself from an alternate reality that had been perverted by unregulated dark magic.After an encounter, Stephen can’t walk by a mirror without the temptation to smash it to pieces. He fears the apparition’s return, doing everything in his power to keep it away.Meanwhile, Tony welcomes it...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [镜之彼端](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19233817) by [3enjoycultivation3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/3enjoycultivation3/pseuds/3enjoycultivation3)



He’d seen it coming, in the sense that someone notices something is wrong before it’s too late.

Stephen was checking himself out in the mirror, freshly shaven after a morning shower.

He stood there clad in just his jeans as he leaned in, fingers running carefully along his jaw. He was checking that everything had been trimmed properly in his beard and noticed movement within the reflection.

For a moment he supposed it was something behind him - the cloak perhaps? Maybe just a curtain in a phantom breeze? Had he brushed a towel by accident? - but the hand that was _at his throat_ had most certainly come from in front of him.

It was so sudden, the grasp was tight! And his gaze was fixed on... his own face?

The eyes that stared back at him were deviously amused, mouth quirked into a self-satisfied smirk.

Was he seeing things? He knew he wasn’t smirking.

His hands had come, clawing at the hand on his throat. Stephen couldn’t breathe, his mouth was definitely open and gasping as he struggled for oxygen while the visage he looked upon was not.

He could feel his heartbeat hammering in his throat, the pressure in his head growing as the grip tightened, keeping him from struggling and wrenching away.

He felt an uncomfortable grating in his neck under those fingers as the figure stepped forth.

“Shh, calm down now gorgeous.” He was hearing his own voice, yet wasn’t talking to himself.

 _He definitely wasn’t talking to himself_.

Was that _him_ in the mirror? Was it something else? He didn’t know, but all of his attempts to veer backwards were proving futile _and he couldn’t breathe!_

 _Calm_ wasn’t exactly his first instinct.

Another hand came through the mirror, brushing at his cheek in a mock tenderness. Stephen’s vision was starting to fade around the edges as his eyelids drooped.

He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, he was passing out.

This had all happened in the blink of an eye, and he was growing dangerously close to fainting based on the way his knees buckled.

The grip relented, and air returned to him, burning its way into his lungs as he gasped in precious oxygen, lungs stinging from the rapid inhalation.

His assailant drew closer, forcing him back. A few stumbled steps and Stephen’s back hit the wall, giving him some kind of stability as he blearily watched his reflection exit the mirror.

He started to raise his hands into a defensive rote and found each hand pinned hard against the wall by strong hands as grey eyes pierced deeply into his own.

“Now now, behave yourself. I _assure_ you my hands aren’t as… _limited_ as yours.”

His hands were firmly held in place, yet the other’s hands came down after a moment, unscarred, unmarked, and adorned with red bands of magic that seemed familiar - _and yet not._

They wound up and out of his line of sight, but as his hands fought for freedom he realized - it was fabric. This was some kind of red fabric that had wound its way around his hands and over his arms.

His other self - the reflection - had bound him in fabric and magic. The red ribbon was adorned with softly glowing symbols that resembled runes of Cyttorak and the binding spell was strong - he could feel as the magic was quietly choked off, locking away under the other’s spell. No one should have been able to do that and yet...

“Who-”

“ _Please_ don’t be so boring as to ask that. I should think it’s obvious _who I am_.” He opened his mouth again, and his reflection raised an eyebrow at him, his voice a clear and pitiful mimicry as it spoke.

“‘What are you doing?’” He mocked. “Is that it?” The other’s unscarred hands slowly maneuvered over his exposed chest as his expression became one of thought.

“We’re going to _masturbate_ . And if you ask another stupid question, I _will_ gag you. I’m surrounded by enough idiots, don’t make us look bad.”

The apparition made a soft t’sking noise as Stephen’s mouth snapped shut. He fought the restraints for a moment - and infuriatingly the other man simply smirked and watched him squirm before he determined the restraints were strong enough.

Bracing himself, Stephen lifted his feet from the ground (slightly surprised that the bonds held him, despite his testing) and attempted to kick out at the other form.

He found _himself_ choking and coughing as a band around his throat made itself apparent; his body had adjusted, allowing gravity to pull him down just a little - but that little bit had been more than enough.

He hadn’t realized it was even there until it squeezed hard on his trachea and his legs jerked back under him just in time for his weight to come crashing down.

He was on his knees.

For a second Stephen thought the other had released him entirely, but as he attempted to drop his hands to the floor to breathe and recover, the bonds tightened once again and something wrapped firmly around his midsection.

His arms had been drawn behind him, wrapped tightly in the crimson red ribbons. They were secured and no amount of movement would help them budge. These bindings were so intricately woven, one continuous line that intertwined within the spaces between his arms, around his core and neck with no discernible break or point of disconnect.

“Cute. I mean, you could have _killed yourself_ … but hey, did the token fight make you feel better?”

“You’re… an asshole.” _Oh fuck_ it hurt to talk.

“Yeah. But that’s our _type_ , so I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Stephen grit his teeth in defiance, his head hung low as he leered at his double. Straining in the way he’d been positioned meant yanking at the limiting bonds. And he was well aware of the penalties that came when he attempted to pull against them.

So he settled with a narrow-eyed stare.

_If looks could kill._

His eyes tracked the shade as it circled him like a shark, slowly stepping out of his peripheral behind him. The restraint around his neck made it difficult to swallow the forming lump in his throat and he winced as he did just that.

There was a pregnant silence, he waited for something to happen - anything. He dared not battle against his bonds again for fear of the consequences. Heart speeding up, the thrumming in his ears as uneasiness built from the _nothing_ \- the unknown, and it gripped at his heart with a heavy fear.

Stephen could only look onward, face to face with himself in front of the looking glass. He had a front row seat to a one-man show, and he was the star _attraction_.

“You seem, nervous…” It hummed with ichor in it’s voice. “Oh come, Stephen, I’m not going to _harm_ you if you cooperate.” He took a few more steps and halted behind him drinking in the _beautiful_ and picturesque scenario he’d set up.

An intermission, taken to allot the doppelganger time to muse on what he’d do to the sorcerer. Eyes cat-like and predatory, molesting his bare form almost as effectively as his own hands could.

Stephen could feel the fixed gaze on his backside. He didn’t need the mirror to see that.

He felt delicate hands begin to ghost over his shoulders, snaking over his exposed skin as the other man took a knee behind him. One arm encircled Stephen’s chest behind, a steady hand grasping his jaw to turn the subjugated sorcerer’s in to face to his own. The other, coiling around his front, a thumb and index finger latching onto his nipple.

The tension on the bindings seemed to ease up under the will of the sinister figure. A strained grunt escaped him as he attempted to fight against his grip - but to no avail, it did nothing.

The doppelganger's clutch was iron.

“Don’t fight this Stephen, I know you love nothing more than to be bent over and fucked into a boneless pile. You think yourself holier-than-thou, well I know exactly who you are, there is _nothing_ you can hide from me.” The voice sneered as his fingers gently pinched and tugged on Stephen’s teet drawing out hitched groan from the sorcerer.

It was a good thing that he couldn’t see himself right now in the mirror or his whole demeanor would have shattered.

Frisked and rosy-cheeked, his body betrayed him. His abused skin was red, flushed and hot. The shade’s touch was a heated sting on his exposed shoulders.

“S-Stop!” He brayed with a guttural growl, narrowed eyes gazing into the shade’s. This _thing’s_ eyes were voracious and hungry. The more the sorcerer struggled the more it excited the domineering figure behind him, _arousing_ him.

Stephen was harshly drawn up against it’s chest by the elbow that rested vertically along his midsection, crushing him up against the front of the apparition.

He felt _everything_.

The elbow that into dug his stomach, the folds and fabrics of his tunic, the harsh leather of the cummerbund and then the rock hard erection that the coarse indigo fabric the other’s tunic couldn’t conceal.

He let out a pathetic groan, he didn’t want this - he hoped, prayed for Wong, or someone to come save him from this.

“Struggle more, please, fucking do it.” The reflection hissed in his ear, brushing it’s nose up against Stephen’s cheek and resting it there as it exhaled hot air along his sensitive stubbled skin.

This drew a much more paltry cry out of the proud sorcerer.

_No one was coming to save him._

He was at the mercy of this creature, touching, handling - violating him. He felt his own body react, betray him. Nipples, rigid from abuse and exposure. Groin, tingling with a slow building arousal from the touch he so fervently denied.

“Concede.” It whispered, drawing another groan from Strange.

Despite the initial assault, there was no denying that the shade was anything if not tender with his ministrations and that was the most sickening part of it all. It wasn’t some a situation where he was bent over and hate-fucked into oblivion.

No.

The shade was taking it’s time, gentle and deliberate with it’s actions - like a lover would be. It made his stomach churn with anxiety, but also with something else.

“Oh Stephen you should learn to love yourself.” It crooned with soft hiss, it’s hand began to direct Stephen’s head towards the mirror in front, forcing his gaze.

There was nothing dignified about the position he was in; he had a good look at the man behind him, and his own reddened features. He was being unraveled slowly and forced to watch. Even the hint of a bulge was beginning to define itself through the raised denim of his jeans.

The shade raked it’s nails down his chest, swollen red track marks would appear milliseconds after those nails had passed over. Stephen inhaled sharply and shut his eyes, he didn’t want to look - didn’t want to see.

“You’re missing it.” The shade continued, and closing his eyes hadn’t made anything better - in fact only heightened all of his other senses.

He could feel the burn along his skin where nails had scraped, and the way the fine hairs over his chest raised under the sensation. He could feel where the other’s nails had stayed, digging into his flesh deeply. He could feel the puffs of hot breath along his shoulder and neck where his double hovered, and the scratch of a beard against his skin there too.

This drew a shudder from the doctor, still refusing to open his eyes.

He could hear the rumble of pleasure from the other man, feel the vibrations of it through his back and the fabric of the shade’s tunic. Touch, smell, sound - he was subjected to an onslaught of other sensations the moment he’d closed his eyes, and that awareness was taking a toll.

“Let me go...” He attempted to growl a demand but it came out closer to a plea. He couldn’t stand the sound of his own voice - _had that really come out of him?!_

_He couldn’t believe it._

He opened his eyes and was horrified as the hand that had idled on his chest began to undo his pants.

“Watch closely.” Came a whisper as the button was undone at his waist, pants unzipped and then crudely jerked down to his knees with a series of tugs. Stephen’s eyes cracked open and followed the other’s rough motions, his teeth lightly biting at the inside of his cheek anxiously.

“Look at yourself, you’re pathetic and you love it. You love being manhandled like this.” It sneered. “So much for wanting me to _stop_ , you’re hard as a rock.”

That same hand splayed over his groin just below the pelvis as fingers dipped in past the waistband of his briefs and grabbed hold of his semi-erect cock.

Stephen yelped. Then he thrashed. And then he sputtered and coughed again when the binding around his neck squeezed.

_Fuck..._

“D-don’t!” He rasped again, slowly resigning himself to the fact that he couldn’t maintain his resilience any longer. His facade had cracked and shattered, and he was pliant within the shade’s clutch.

As if the demand to stop meant the opposite, the doppelganger began to stroke him softly. Warm, smooth, erect in the shade’s grasp and growing harder.

And Stephen had to sit there and watch this agonizingly drawn out process. His breathing hitched, and his face flushed a darker crimson. His heart rate sped up as he arched his head into the shade’s shoulder so it was resting in his nape perfectly.

The shade watched on in amusement as this happened, a malign snigger bellowing in a gravelly tone.

This time there was no plea to stop, words were lost to the Sorcerer Supreme.

“See? Much better.”

“...” Stephen shut his eyes, he wanted to fight back again but it felt good, in a sickening and twisted kind of way. The anticipation that bubbled in his gut fought turbulently with the feelings of being sick, an evenly matched battle between pleasure and horror erupted as he started to melt like butter in the other man’s hands.

Stephen fought to exhaustion, to deny that he was receiving any sort of enjoyment in this.

It was degrading, and disgusting. He’d lost any semblance of control and who knew what the other man would do to him before they were through.

It was an uphill battle against the tyrant’s ministrations and Stephen was losing his thoughts, slowly slipping past the event horizon to the point of no return.

_Maybe he could surrender..._

His body had betrayed him, and now his mind was about to go as well. Why fight it? In all outcomes, even the grim ones why not enjoy those last final moments. Struggling was futile, he was wrapped - bound in an impossibly unbreakable spell and completely overpowered at every turn.

Help was not coming, and the thought kept replaying in his head; he would not escape this on his own.

He was alone here at the beck and call of the shade’s mercy. Perhaps it had been planned that way.

A shaky breath managed to escape his lips and he whimpered softly.

“You see it now don’t you?” It taunted. “You’re fucking helpless, just accept it - like I know _we_ want it.”

Stephen shivered, the pricking in his groin rising to a new level as those words sunk into him like needles in a pin cushion.

His thoughts raced, disgust and shame at how he could be so sexually aroused by his oppressor. It was a classic stockholm syndrome situation and his body couldn’t summon the ability to really fight it anymore.

The hand that had been gripping his jaw eased, and as he opened his mouth to respond with some sort of protest - a thumb slid into his mouth muffling his words. It poked around, pressing against his tongue eliciting a breathless gasp. Stephen shook and tried to struggle again but he was once again met with the same resistance of those red bindings squeezing and crushing his movements as he tried to move his face away from the adventurous digits.

He let out a breathy huff, absolutely frozen in his bonds as he shuddered with half lidded eyes. Thoughts were hazy, desire starting to coat his mind as the shade’s hand stroked along his now fully hard prick and began to play with his crest.

“You want this _so_ badly.” The other breathed from behind him, face in his hair. Stephen could only start to nod weakly in submission as his mind was drunk off of the other’s indulgent touches. The voice in his mind that cried for the other to stop had been long silenced and he was completely subdued. “I know I want this…” It continued.

He felt one of those bindings wrap around the base of his cock and squeeze, causing him to flinch in the other’s hold. Another cry and Stephen’s body bucked instinctively into the shade’s clasping hand.

“Good boy.” It soothed sadistically. “It’s just so much easier to give in, to surrender…” The husky voice murmured softly into his hair. “You’re _mine_ after all, and this thing we have - this is _ours_.” Stephen felt the hot sting of lips on the back of his neck and he moaned into the hand still fingering his mouth as they suckled on his skin.

Half lidded eyes looked upon his own heated and aroused form in the mirror that reflected before him, the sight of the other man stroking him off and the deep red bindings woven around his body added it’s own degree to his heated arousal.

He muffled something incoherent into the shade’s hand but the words weren’t discernible. The shade pet, stroked and continued it’s torture, gripping his dick in an iron hold and Stephen was almost inebriated, teetering on the brink.

His chest heaved as he drank in what air he could, beads of sweat pouring down his body as his head rolled on the doppelganger’s shoulder. His muscles tightened, he groaned and just as the doctor was going to reach his sweet release his oppressor stopped.

_...What?_

“You’re not getting off that easy.”

Stephen’s heart leapt as the figure behind him moved. The warmth left him and he fell back to the floor rather abruptly without care.

He looked up as the shade was back at his front, now standing over him.

“If you want something from me, you’re going to give a little in return.” It barked harshly.

“Get up.”

Stephen was a confused, aroused mess on the floor. And the shade knew he wanted nothing more than to finish. He watched with a tyrannical grin as the sorcerer struggled, chest rising and falling with limited air.

He reached down and grabbed one of the restraints around his chest and towed him back up into a kneeling position. He gripped Stephen with a fist in his hair and crushed his face to his groin.

“You’ve been awfully focused on this.” Stephen winced, nothing to come back with. The side of his face was pressed up against the shade’s firm erection. He could very much feel and smell the other man vividly from this position.

If the sorcerer hadn’t been embarrassed or ashamed before it was taken to a new level in that instance. He would be reduced to begging now and he gathered this was all part of it.

_Dangle the figurative carrot in front of the horse and watch him run._

“I-” Stephen started, he couldn’t articulate - what could he even say?

There was a sandy chuckle in the doppelganger’s throat. The fist in his hair had repositioned to settle around the side of his jaw, holding his face in place, fingers curling under his jaw so he couldn’t pull away or push any other direction.

With another hand the shade pushed the part his own indigo tunic aside that hung below the sash, and tugged at the waistband of his own pants to free himself. Down came his slacks and undergarments until Stephen’s face was flesh-to-flesh with his groin.

His cheeks flush against the length that his oppressor began to lewdly grind against the side of his face, using it as a surface to rub himself off with. His hand coaxing it out of its flaccid state.

“You know what comes next, and if you bite me you’re really going to regret it.” The shade warned, and Stephen knew he was _deadly_ serious. “We both don’t want that now do we, because _I know what you want.”_ He soothed cooly.

Stephen nodded shamefully, the motion triggering the bindings. Everything grasped and hugged so tightly, his throat, chest and cock causing him to groan and sputter loudly against him.

“Do make as much noise as you desire. Because you won’t be able to in a second.” The tyrant’s hand was back in Stephen’s hair and he jerked his head back, thankfully without repercussions from the crimson band around his neck.

“Open.”

But Stephen’s eyes were strained shut, teeth grit as he was overwhelmed by everything. The shade hissed and under his will the ribbon around his cock tightened causing him cry out and he took that moment to jam his cock in Stephen's maw, buffering Stephen’s teeth with his thumb for safety.

“Don’t you dare fucking bite.” He looked down at him with a deadly leer, and Stephen slowly opened his eyes, peering up at him with tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

He nodded again for clarity.

“Good boy.” He removed his thumb and Stephen did what he was told. Lips wrapped around the thick girth in his mouth and began to suck.

The shade stroked the side of his face, taking his cheeks in both hands so he was cupping him from both sides. His hold was then firm, and the band around his neck went somewhat slack.

“You know I wonder if that little crush of ours would enjoy getting in on this, _Tony Stark_.” The shade mused with a breathy gasp as he slowly rocked Stephen’s face back and forth over his hardened prick.

Stephen’s eyes snapped open and he made to protest but the words were crushed by the doppelganger’s dick ramming the back of his throat.

“Caught your attention did I?” There was a sly laziness to the shade’s words as he held Stephen’s face tight in it’s spot, the head of his cock pressing and slowly working back. “Is that what you’ve been imagining this whole time? Hm? _Tony_?”

Stephen swallowed without thinking, and the head of the other’s dick pressed into his throat in that moment. The shade groaned a bit, digging his hands back into Stephen’s hair and holding him firmly in place, his forehead pressed against the shade’s abdomen.

“ _I bet he’d just love it_ ,” The shade hissed as Stephen gagged in his spot.“So would _you_ hm?” He chuckled a bit as his grasp eased up enough to let Stephen inhale barely half a breath before pulling him back down.

“Watch the teeth,” He warned again, “One little graze and it _won’t_ be so enjoyable for _dear Stark_ … On the other hand, if you _want_ to test me you should know it wouldn’t be such a hardship for me to use _his_ body instead of _yours_ if you’re going to be _disobedient_.”

The shade granted him a pleased hum, stroking his hair gently for only half a moment, and Stephen was perfectly aware of the intention behind it.

He could _feel_ the undertone of ‘good boy’ and he hated it. He hated the tenseness in his chest at the thought of the shade _touching_ Tony - he also hated the way the rest of him tightened at the thought of Tony’s hands tight in his hair, fucking his face with eager abandon.

It was a struggle to keep his mouth open as the muscles in his jaw twitched and shuddered under the strain of the shade’s deep thrusts. Even a small nick and he couldn’t be certain what this other-him might do to Tony.

Would he be any stronger against this kind of assault than Stephen had been? And even if he didn’t _hurt_ Stark, would the man ever be able to look at him again? Someone who wore his face… degrading him this way?

His mind was running wild with the thoughts, part panicked, part aroused simply imagining.

He shut his eyes against the strain, he was completely out of control, he didn’t have his hands to brace the landing as the other plowed into his face.

The shade’s thumb brushed over his cheek, wiping away the stray tear that formed at the corners of the sorcerer’s eye. His hand continued to tenderly stroke as he gripped the back of Stephen’s head, mercilessly fucking into his mouth and relishing as each buck of his hips elicited a pained groan from the sorcerer.

Soft hisses escaped his mouth as the pleasure began to build in his nethers.

“You’ve got a good mouth on you doctor,” He exhaled as his cock twitched and Stephen could feel it in his mouth. “It’s a shame you use it to say such foul and and inconsiderate things.” His voice hitching as he drew Stephen’s face forward with another thrust.

 _He was close_ , so close to finishing, and the tyrant bit his lip and closed his eyes as he kept going.

Stephen got a taste of precum and a pathetic moan slipped out as he was forced to swallow what dripped down the back of his throat.

His heart beat loudly in his ears and his dick was so painfully erect, throbbing under the tight constraint. He only wished that the heat of the situation itself was enough to push him over, but it wasn’t.

The apparition had gotten him to _just the exact point_ where he was almost bursting at the seams to erupt but still needed help to push himself over.

Feeling sweet release not so far off he stopped and pulled out of the sorcerer’s mouth. A thick string of saliva connecting from Stephen’s mouth to his assailant’s cock.

Stephen sputtered and panted, hacking as he hunched over. The shade still had him by the hair and allowed him to lean forward to catch his breath.

That string of spit, snapping and dripping down his lips. He was a hot sweaty mess, hair amiss, body bruised and wet from abuse.

It was only a moment before Stephen found himself on his back yet again, and this time he watched helplessly as the other man lowered himself onto him and straddled his chest.

It was hard for Stephen to breath with the other smothering him.

His dominant hand now began to stroke his slickened cock along Stephen’s chest. Groans escaping the shade as his other hand tentatively reached around to give attention to Stephen’s own neglected hard-on.

“I thought about finishing in your mouth, watching you gag on my cum but I’d much rather paint that beautiful face of yours.” He chuckled low in a husky voice.

Stephen’s arousal was suspended in limbo and the mediocre strokes from the other did nothing more than agitate him and cause him to buck.

He mewled and writhed under the apparition pitifully, and the other enjoyed it. He stroked himself, getting harder, pressure building in his hips before it was overwhelming.

The apparition spilled itself over Stephen. White strings of hot seed shooting over his face and chin, down over his chest connecting with viscous ribbons.

He’d never had a man cum on him like this before, treat him this way. He was always the dominant force, the one in control and here he’d completely lost it. He had no power. No control. Barely even a will to fight.

Dare he admit that this was something that turned him on, relinquishing control and having someone completely dominate him?

He shivered with half lidded eyes, face now allowed to fall onto the floor as that white liquid dripped down his face, crawling down his cheek and catching in his whiskers. Likewise its presence was felt on his chest in the exposure of the Sanctum’s chilled air.

He’d been completely and utterly defiled, and he laid there defeated on the floor, shivering and sobbing with wanton need against the floorboards as he babbled and begged feverishly for release.

“Please… _I want_ -” Stephen couldn’t find the ability to articulate, pride fighting with his body’s sensations.

He was a broken, shattered husk.

“You want what?” The shade taunted from above.

“Help me finish…” He said shamefully, closing his eyes and refusing to look the apparition in the eyes as his legs quivered with need.

“We’re going to clean up first.” He reached to grab Stephen’s head and tilt it up towards him. He pressed his glazed cock to Stephen’s lips. “Well, get to it.” Stephen groaned at the demand, but he complied.

He hesitated a moment before he tentatively dragged his tongue along the smooth surface, lapping up the salty discharge and suckling on the crown of the shade’s now over sensitive prick.

His tongue coarsed over the warm veiny exterior as he lapped up air-cooled cum.

How degrading... _but he was growing into his role._

He took in the whole thing and swallowed what was left, having to close one of his eyes as a string of cum rolled down his eyelid.

“Enough.” The apparition moved off of him. He sat down beside him on the floor and propped himself up against the wall, towing Stephen into his lap.

Stephen heaved as the shade snaked an arm around from behind once again to grasp his still throbbing dick, and the other that was still slick from rubbing one out, coated in cum and saliva dipped in between his legs to penetrate the space between his rear.

His ministrations were harsh, with less attention paid to his cock, and more focus on teasing the tight grasping muscles of his ass. Fingers having slipped in entirely with ease from it’s makeshift lubrication.

Each thrust of his fingers drew out pathetic yelps from Stephen as he sat there at the other’s mercy.

“Harder…” Stephen rasped, allowing his head to fall back on the shade’s shoulder once again. He couldn't bring himself to look into the mirror again, he was a disaster.

“Please.” It chided.

“... Please.” Stephen croaked and the shade rammed his fingers in up to his knuckles. Stephen yelped and his body went tight. Here he was sitting in the arms of an apparition of himself, a sexual predator and he was begging for more after thorough abuse.

_What had he become?_

He felt hot lips on his neck again, on the same spot as before and it stung. He could only guess there was a mark there from before, and he cried as his muscles once again began to stiffen, his arousal heightened.

There was a good pace to his thrusts, ramming in deep enough to stimulate his prostate and he groaned, cock twitching and on the brink. He cried out, just about to-

And the shade withdrew with a sinister chuckle.

“It’s beneath me to get my hands dirty, but I’m a man of my word.” He exhaled against Stephen’s ear and the doctor could almost cry he was so painfully close.

“But don’t worry, I’ve got you wrapped up tight like a present and help will be on it’s way _very soon.”_

_Fuck._

He opened his eyes and stared up at the copy of himself. It leaned down to place a sickeningly gentle kiss on his brow before he removed himself from the Sorcerer Supreme and return to the mirror.

He would leave Stephen a mess on the floor as he stepped a foot back into the looking glass. He turned to say one last thing to Stephen who looked incredulously up at him.

“Now be good. I’ve sent for someone to come _rescue_ you.” He was too damn smug and Stephen was too damn weak to do anything about it right now. He was messy, bound and still hard - the idea of _anyone_ finding him in this state wasn’t appealing.

He heard the quick, heavy steps approaching from the hall and the apparition made his way back through the mirror, casting him a little wink.

“Doc?”

 _Shit_.

That wasn’t just _someone_ that was _Tony fucking Stark_ \- and why did it sound so worried?

“Stark get your ass in here!” His reflection called and the handle turned.

His small, croaked _“Wait!”_ came too late as the Iron Man had already pushed himself through the door and stood with a repulsor raised and at the ready, scanning the room for threats.

He’d never been more grateful in his life that the brunette was wearing his helmet so that he didn’t have to see the man’s face.

It didn’t spare him from the Tony’s voice however.

“... Didn’t realize it was _that_ kind of emergency, Doc.” The mask began to dissipate, and Tony’s face was drawn into an unreadable expression. “I mean, I’m on board with whatever this is but you could’ve just asked. I thought you were in trouble or--”

“Stark. I did _not_ do this to _myself_.” His voice sounded awful, and it took a bit of work to speak up loud enough to be heard over the other man. But how else could he explain it?

“I mean, I _did_ but it’s not-”

He wasn’t certain Tony was actually _listening_ to him as his eyes seemed to trail over him. When Stephen paused speaking, molten chocolate eyes stared at him with a certain covetousness that burned deeply into his chest and made the _disobedient thing_ between his legs throb.

“S-stop looking at me like that and _untie me_ , dammit!” In a moment, Stark’s face became placid and he gave a one-shouldered shrug.

“You could at _least_ say ‘please.’”

Stephen was going to strangle the bastard with his own two hands the moment he was free.

“... _Please_ ,” he gritted out. Tony gave him a wry smirk as he moved closer, crossing his arms and looking down upon the bound sorcerer.

“Yeah, can you say it again without the _murder_ though, Doc? Your hands are _much_ safer to me as they are right now."

“ **Stark**!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen takes up temporary residence in the compound knowing there's safety in numbers, still reeling from the encounter. It does nothing to stop his alternate self, sights set on something different this time.

Everything was a blur after the incident in the Sanctum Sanctorum. Not unlike having one’s home broken into by a thief and their belongings burgled - Stephen didn’t feel safe at the Sanctum anymore.

He’d taken up a temporary residence at the compound by generous offer from none other than Tony Stark. He didn’t want to admit he was afraid, still reeling from the incident feeling phantom impressions all over his body.

He remembered so vividly the look in Stark's eyes as he sized his body up hungrily. How he’d just been desecrated and left on display like some gallery piece.

It stirred something primal in Stephen that he wasn’t quite ready to accept, and he couldn’t look at Tony the right way without thinking about the Iron Man's eyes glazing over his body like he was a piece of meat.

This was something Stephen wanted, but contrary - it went against his entire belief system.

_This isn’t how things were supposed to happen._

He couldn’t bring himself to believe that Tony would be interested in him, especially after an instance like that. It was so degrading, so humiliating and he would relive that same instance over, and over, and over again every time he looked at the man.

He’d walled himself off in a private room, no mirrors and the only time he dared to be around them was when other Avengers were close at hand.

He’d long since shattered every single one in the Sanctum, and even then he still didn’t feel safe there alone. Stephen also hadn’t spoken to Tony much at all. He’d moved in and kept to himself, avoiding the charismatic engineer by any means necessary.

He still had things he needed to sort out.

Today had marked a week since the incident and Stephen had finally broken out of his cognitive chrysalis. He made his way towards the workshop to check and see if Tony was present there.

Tony was not.

He then headed up to the engineer’s room to seek him out, knocking first on the slightly ajar door beckoning to him before entering.

“Stark?” Stephen walked in, looking around. “Hey Friday do you know where I would be able to find To-” 

A hand clamped over his mouth and his arms were pinned behind his back. Stephen began to struggle, heart in his throat eyes wide with panic. Likewise Stephen’s cloak attempted to bat at his oppressor, but it was pinned tightly against Stephen’s backside.

_Not this again!_

“Unlike last time I’m not going to _do anything_ to you Stephen, so you can calm the fuck down. _I’m just here to talk._ ” The other’s voice said cooly, but the shade didn’t relinquish it’s hold. The cloak continued to swipe and struggle against his front.

Stephen growled, of course he’d managed to miss the one fucking mirror left in the compound.

_How could he have allowed himself to be blindsided?_

The apparition removed it’s hand from his mouth and Stephen tried to turn and look at him. He felt the doppelganger frisking around his leather sash, tugging on it and then the sensations soon stopped.

“I have nothing to say to _you, asshole. Let me go.”_

“Oh that’s perfectly fine, because you’re _not_ the person I’m here to _speak with._ ” There was amusement laden in the apparition’s tone. Stephen’s eyes went wide in realization at what those words implied.

_Stark._

The only other reason it would be here.

“In fact, it would do us both good if you would just step aside and let me about my business.”

“Don’t you dare lay a finger on hi-”

“-Ta~!”

The apparition shattered an entrance to the mirror dimension and in one quick movement threw Stephen into the fractured prismatic wall, dropping him to the floor on his hands and knees like a sack of rice. The cloak immediately bounded towards the exit from his shoulders but the portal was closed off.

The shade chuckled with a husky voice.

He couldn’t see Stephen, but he knew the sorcerer could hear and see _him_ clearly.

“You’ve got a front row seat to a good show, so don’t worry. I’m a man of my word Stephen. And you should know that - I promise _no harm_ will come to Stark.”

Stephen reached for his sling-ring to cast a portal out - but it wasn’t there.

He’d nabbed his sling-ring, _that bastard!_ How the hell was he supposed to get out of here now?

_Speak of the devil-_

“What’s going on? Friday alerted me to a scuffle.” Tony was right at the door peering in at Stephen, heaving from having to rush up from wherever he’d been. He was on the defensive looking around for any abnormality.

 

* * *

 

“Steph, what are you doing my room?” Tony figured everything was just fine and cooled down a bit, he walked in to look around. Something felt off in the slightest but he was just startled into action thinking there was a legitimate threat, and it was possible that it was simply his adrenaline coupling with his anxiety.

“Tony! I was actually just looking for you.” Stephen started, plodding over to the shorter man. “I just wanted to thank you for your generous hospitality.” Tony noticed there was something off about the inflection in Stephen’s voice. He almost sounded overconfident in a way.

_And that didn’t make sense._

Since he’d last seen and spoken with Stephen the sorcerer had been a hermit, and any kind of interactions with him were curtailed on the sorcerer’s end. Stephen would hardly hold a conversation that was more than a one-worded greeting before getting flustered and walking off. Or a few words strung together into barely coherent mumbles if he was lucky enough. 

Now Stephen was holding a full conversation with him, his voice sounded _weird,_ not to mention the eye-contact was unnervingly steadfast.

Tony felt a bit fuzzy under that cat-like gaze and seemed to freeze a bit with anticipation as Stephen grew nearer.

“Is there _anything_ I can do to repay you Stark?” Stephen’s voice was smooth as he moved up into Tony’s space, towering above him.

Tony swallowed, _HELLO THERE._

“I think the knight in shining armor deserves a kiss on the cheek from the lovely damsel.” Tony joked, he really was kidding but the prospect was wonderful regardless.

“How about _I do you_ one better...” The shade’s eyes were fixed and half lidded on those chocolate brown eyes.

Before he knew it, Tony’s hand was in Stephen’s steady grasp and an arm had snaked around his waist and abruptly pulled their forms together.

 _Umm,_ **_what_ ** _?_  

Tony’s other hand came up to brace himself against Stephen’s chest, not inclined to push away though. He looked behind him once to see that hand on his back, then up at Stephen again.

_Pinch me I’m dreaming, this isn’t happening._

Stark was at a loss for words, it was as if his wildest dreams had just become reality. Screw the fact that anything seemed off - hell this is literally what he’d been wanting since _Titan_.

“Right here-” Tony tilted his head a little to present his indicated cheek, ready to accept a kiss.

The sorcerer leaned down, crushing Tony’s form to his own even tighter... and _went for his neck instead_.

“U-uh hey- Stephen, I think you missed, buddy?” Tony managed a flustered laugh as the man ravaged his neck. Lips full and flush against his throat, Tony let out a few yips from surprise as he felt a knee come up between his leg and then he was on his bed, suddenly pinned beneath Stephen with a flustered face.

“Steph?”

The taller man stopped for a moment.

“Just, shut up for a moment Stark and _enjoy this_.”

Tony had thrown caution to the wind, clamming up with Stephen’s demands. He kept trying to push down the feeling that this was wrong in some way despite him wanting it so badly.

 

* * *

 

_Stephen was frozen in horrified awe as he witnessed what was unfolding before him from his prison. His face was red, flustered with anger and embarrassment. He was laden with worry, mortified even. Here the man of his absolute desires was being whisked away by his double._

_That sick bastard! What kind of game did he think he was playing at here?!_  

_Stephen shook with anger, he needed to find a way out of here somehow._

_The cloak had returned to Stephen, it settled around his shoulders with a reassuring squeeze, trying to comfort the distraught wizard._

 

* * *

 

“Unless you plan on going all the way here you might want to sto-” Tony strained, and then yelped. “A-Ah! Careful!” as Stephen’s palm roughly cupped the forming bulge in Tony’s groin.

“-stop?”

“Shut up.”

He bit down into Tony’s neck, immediately silencing him and the engineer wrapped his legs around the man’s midsection so he could grind himself up against the hovering figure.

“Fucking watch it Stephen!” He yelped again, but there wasn’t any aggression to his tone.

The magus pulled away, lifting to meet Tony’s face with his own and pressed the bridge of his nose into Tony’s forehead for a sweet moment and then leaned back.

_Heavens… Tony was living it._

Stephen’s hands now worked on getting Tony’s shirt and pants out of the way. He skillfully lifted the tight spandex fabric above Tony’s reactor and tugged it over his head and arms. Messily fingering the button out of it’s notch and tugging the engineer’s pants down

Tony meanwhile huffed breaths into his neck, completely and blissfully swept up in the moment. Stephen’s handling alone was almost enough to just send him over. This was everything he wanted, everything he needed, everything he desired and craved for every single night.

He wanted nothing more than this man _, every single part of him._

But something still felt off about this. _Damn his conscience._

“Ok, hang on we need to clear some things up-” The sorcerer was over him, looking down with an impatient gaze.

“What’s there to clear up?” A fingernail trailed down Tony’s front, and gently tapped at the arc reactor.

“This thing - _us_ \- this seems a bit too good to be true...” Tony gave him a confused frown. “I mean, I love it! But... this kinda came out of nowhere.” Tony’s hands were on Strange’s thighs and he was idly stroking them comfortingly.

“Yesterday you couldn’t even look me in the eye without turning red and stalking off, and today you’re all over me? What’s your angle here?” The engineer inquired. He just wanted some clarity.

“ _I need you_ Tony, it’s just as simple as that. I’ve been craving your touch, you have _no_ idea.” He hissed softly, his gaze intense as he pressed his forehead to Tony’s. The engineer gladly accepted the affection with a bump of his nose to the other’s.

“I mean, hell if this is what you want. I want this too, god - more than you can imagine Stephen.” He exhaled, arms coming up to encircle the sorcerer’s neck. Accepting the answer for what it was (though it didn’t _entirely_ settle him) he reached for the other man’s lips and crushed their faces together in a heated kiss.

In between their macking Tony managed to break away for moments to gasp a demand. “Lose the clothes.”

He clawed at the sorcerer’s sash in order to find some sort of clasp or opening to remove them. He found nothing.

Stephen snapped a finger and he was in the nude, save for his boxers. The magus broke the kiss with a loud smack.

“I’ll leave the rest to you.” He stated, claiming Tony’s lips again.

_God yes._

With a soft ‘mmmph’ into the kiss Tony slid the sorcerer’s undergarments to his knees and he felt that hot body come down on his, grinding lewdly against him.

Tony reached down and seized the his cock, rubbing the soft and steadily hardening erection against his own. His hand was clasped over the top as Stephen ground against him through the fabric of his briefs, thrusting into his hand as Tony held a sloppy, breathy lip-lock with the taller figure.

“Fuck, I need you now.” Tony hissed and he used the one arm he had around Stephen to flip him onto his back, pinning the other beneath him. 

He looked confused.

“Missionary or ass up.”

Despite the reversal he seemed perfectly happy to indulge. Stephen turned underneath his legs and crawled forward so his fucking beautiful ass was facing up.

Tony grinned, yes, _YES_.

“Uno momento.” And he awkwardly reached for his drawer to grab a bottle of lube and a condom.

“No condom.” The magus cracked an eye open and barked.

“That’s what I liked to hear baby!” He returned to his spot behind Stephen, both hands reaching for his hips - he lifted them and propped a couple pillows underneath so his ass-end was elevated for easier access. 

Tony squirted a glob of the liquid into his hand, _K.Y warming jelly_ \- and rubbed it over his palms.

One hand dove into the pillows to grab the doctor’s cock, the other slowly slid, and warmed the muscles of his ass. This stole a pleasured hiss from the lithe figure.

Tony’s chest did a flip, _fuck that was hot._

Stephen’s muscles parted as he slid his fingers inside. Gliding smoothly in and out warming his way, bone-by-bone along the length of his fingers before he was in up to his knuckles and poking around in the soft, slick, tightness. 

The man was drooling on the bed. 

“Harder.” He croaked, eyes shut and Tony was more than happy to comply.

His hand was lovingly rolling over Stephen’s prick synchronously with motions as he jammed his fingers inside with more force - to his knuckles.

He focused more attention on his expedited thrusting motions, ramming in up to his knuckles and pulling out. He’d be rewarded with a gratified groan hitching in the back of the man’s throat with each one.

Tony was simply enjoying watching, and he grew so impossibly hard at just looking over Stephen’s totally relaxed and blissful demeanor. The man looked like a _fucking angel, he was beautiful._

That’s it.

He couldn’t take it any longer, he needed to be inside him, _to_ **_feel_ ** _him, to rutt him into the ground and turn him into an incoherent babbling mess._  

Tony slopped whatever slickness was leftover onto his own dick, rubbing himself a few times before he raised himself over and began to dip in.

He breached, sputtering at how damn tight Stephen was. The further he pushed the more he struggled, breath hitching in his throat as his eyes rolled back in his damn head.

“Yess...” He hissed, hands both firmly dug into his ass cheeks and he stuffed the sorcerer’s ass until his hips had connected flesh with those round orbs. 

_Tony melted. And he hadn’t even started._

He lapsed into slow, full bodied thrusts - each blow accented with a jerk before each connect. Then pulling back again and the shade could hear his steady exhales.

Tony’s eyes were shut, _he was gone._

“Enjoying yourself? I am...” The doctor moaned out. 

“U-uHuh,” Tony slurred, his mouth hung open with a fly-catching gape.

He just wanted to be in the here-and-now, to enjoy _this_ \- this absolutely perfect moment with Stephen.

 

* * *

 

_Stephen couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. His heart was pounding in his chest as he watched. It would be impossible to tear his face away from what was happening at the moment. Tony, HIS Tony was fucking his double!_

_There was jealousy, there was anger, and then there was pain. Stephen clutched at his chest, feeling the tight tense pain there as he recognized the cruelty of what his double had done. He shook, so insulted - his emotions swirling with upheaval and he dared to get closer._  

_Tony…_

_He looked so peaceful, so happy, happy with someone else… That looked like him? Was he to remain trapped in this dimension forever and just watch this happen over and over again? Was this to be his life now?_ **_So_ ** _close but unable to reach out…?_

 _At least Tony was safe._  

_And happy…_

_The monster had kept his word._

 

* * *

 

Tony was dredging into him, the pressure building in his hips at a steady rate.

_Fuck yessss!_

Stephen lay belly down, his hands out in front of him to brace himself against the mattress as his stomach bounced against the comforter and pillows under his hips.

Tony took in a deep breath, he wanted to speed things up.

He leaned forward, opening his eyes as his hands moved down the apparition’s thighs. He gazed over that beautiful body below him. Stephen’s chiseled shoulders, his beautiful hair, that perfect grey streak that crested behind his head, and his hands-

Tony squinted.

_Oooookay, where the fuck were Stephen’s scars?_

_They weren’t there._

Tony stopped mid-thrust inside the pliant body.

“Whoa-whoa, whoa. Hold the fucking phone here.” He squinted.

“Why’d you stop?” The other groaned into the sheets.

“...... So who the fuck are you _really_?” Tony narrowed his eyes in confusion. 

What a time for Tony to stop and question the matter further. The doppelganger froze, eyes opening and staring awkwardly in front of him now put on the spot.

“Are you seriously going to ask questions while you’re buried in my ass? What the hell.” It snapped back at Tony, eagerly rocking his hips back and trying get things going again.

He was having such a good time.

“We can fuck leisurely while we talk this out, that's fine. But I wanna know who the fuck you are and what you did with _my_ _wizard_." Tony frowned, and he pulled out only to dredge back in again with more force this time to accent his words.

“Do we really have to do this now? - can’t it wait?!” ‘Stephen’ barked in frustration. “Your precious Sorcerer Supreme is fine. You can take my fucking word for it, he’s not far. 

Tony’s stomach coiled a little with a thought.

“ _Loki?_ ”

“ **No**. Fuck.”

“Then who-”

“I _am_ Stephen, but at the same time I’m not. I’ll tell you _after_ . Just fucking finish this first. Don’t _spoil it_ …” The shade was losing its edge, the tone in his voice falling off as he was desperate for their sexcapade to conclude.

Tony didn’t know how he felt about this. He was hard and fucking a man that looked exactly like Stephen - or so was _apparently_ Stephen. But where was _his_ Stephen?

“Promise me he’s safe.”

“He’s _fine_ .”

* * *

 

_Almost a victim of his own discordant thoughts, Stephen perked up when Tony saw through the guise._

_Thank the Vishanti Tony knew that it wasn’t him, he felt some of his happiness return, swelling in his chest at how concerned Tony sounded about his absence._

_The fact that he was in the middle of sex and his thoughts were immediately on Stephen’s whereabouts and safety touched him more than he knew._

_Tony really did care about him. In Tony’s own_ **_weird_ ** _way._

_Priorities were a bit off - the engineer was balls deep in a dude that looked like him but he was the first thing on his mind at that very moment._

_‘Tony…’_

 

* * *

 

Tony tried not to let his thoughts distract him. He was still enjoying plowing the crap out of this ‘copy’ of Stephen. He sounded, smelled, and looked _almost_ exactly like Stephen. So in his head he could imagine that nothing had changed and that in a perfect world - this really was him.

He moaned loudly as his rutting picked up pace, harsh battering thrusts hammered into the apparition’s ass.

“Fuck I can’t-hnnnngh!” Tony cried, his muscles seizing tight and he let out a guttural groan as he pumped hot jizz into ‘Stephen.’

“Finish the job.” The man beneath him groaned, and Tony collapsed in a heaping mess over the shade’s back, rapidly jerking him off while curling an arm around his midsection and pressing gentle breathless kisses into his shoulder.

He felt it’s cock twitch in his hand, a jerk and then the presence of warm fluid in his hands, coating his fingers in a sticky mess.

The apparition was wordless and boneless, gasping over the covers as Tony kept curled up to his backside, spooning him.

“Now if only you were the real-deal - fuck, that would be amazing.” Tony mumbled into his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek against the back of his neck. He was content to curl up with this imposter for a bit.

“I am the real deal.” It responded groggily. “Just not from this reality…” It mumbled. As much he was here for just the sex - this was… nice.

“I was really hoping that you were.” Tony yammered on.

“Keep it to yourself Stark,” ‘Stephen’ responded flatly, trying to enjoy the mood.

“... You think I’ve got a chance with him?”

“Fuck I don’t know, just _shut up_. There’s a sacred silence that should be embraced after sex and you’re really steamrolling it.”

Tony sighed, his cum-glazed hand coming up to also wrap around the apparition. It flinched with the cold substance, stiffening but then relaxing against Tony’s heaving form.

Tony closed his eyes, basking against the other. 

_This was so nice._

_If only…_

“Hey, you thi-”

"I'm _not_ your therapist Stark."

"Yeahhhhhh _people keep saying that_..." Tony mused.

With an exasperated sigh the apparition wiggled himself free of Tony’s koala-back hug and stood up. Using a simple spell to rid himself of any leftover _fluids_ , his clothes were back and Tony was now holding the pillows instead of the sorcerer.

“This was fun.” The imposter turned to leave and Tony dashed to his feet and grabbed his hand.

“Wait, Stephen - _my_ Stephen - where is he?” Tony’s eyes looked on with concern.

“Oh, right.” He chucked Stephen’s sling ring on the floor with a heavy metal _thunk_ and wove an amber portal.

“Take care~!”

Tony looked over at the portal, Stephen was on the other side.

Strange quickly leapt through before it closed, not even thinking and when he turned to seek the apparition it was gone.

“Stephen?” Tony questioned, tilting his head.

He was standing there in the nude. Strange immediately averted his gaze.

_Oh how the tables had shifted._

“Oh for the love of-! P-put something on Stark!” He stammered, refusing to make eye contact or so much as look his direction.

“Ok, I want an explanation.” Tony demanded. “ _Now_.”

“I'm not talking to you about _a damn thing_ until you're cleaned up and you put something _on_!" Stephen grabbed his cloak and immediately threw it in Stark’s general direction, still refusing to lay eyes on him. 

 _That felt right._  

It was bad enough he had to watch him fuck his doppelganger. Now he was standing there in the nude, frisked and filthy trying to hold a conversation as if it was nobody’s business.

“Ok… but do you want to join me?”

Stephen looked at him incredulously, he was now decent behind the cloak. It had curled around him in a soft embrace and flicked at his cheek gently showing it’s own relief that Tony was okay.

“ **_No_ **, j-just let me think!” Stephen sputtered again.

“Showers are a great place to think… I get my best ideas there.” Tony mused with a chuckle. Stephen was fumbling for excuses at this point.

Tony simply shrugged and turned towards the bathroom.

“Wait. Tony -”

“Mmmm?”

Stephen’s sheepish gaze came to meet the engineer’s eyes. His cheeks were red, but he managed to hold eye contact with the other man.

“How…” He started. “How did you know it wasn’t me?” He trailed off in a shy voice.

“Oh! Easy.” He flashed a wide grin. “Your scars-” He indicated to Stephen’s hand. “He didn’t have any.” Tony stated simply. “Also, he wasn’t a stuttering mess, I could never imagine _you_ being so forward.

Stephen frowned.

“So why sleep with him then?”

Tony contemplated for a moment. It made sense to him.

“You know how people buy knock-offs of brands they really like because they can't _afford_ the real thing? It's exactly that.” He continued, smiling softly at Strange.

Stephen slowly nodded his head, registering Tony’s words.

_Boy did he really need to think..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen and Tony finally 'hammer' out the details of what exactly is going on.

After a hot shower and some time to think under water, Tony stepped back into his room in a housecoat with the (oh so tacky) Avengers crest on it, ready to tackle some important thoughts he'd been chewing on during his rinse.

He’d been in there about 45 minutes and the only reason he’d taken so long was the multitude of thoughts that seemed to flood his head based on the most recent events involving a certain doctor.

He took a seat on the edge of his bed as he saw Stephen still in his room and observing the mirror his counterpart had used to enter into the compound.

Stephen had turned around in the presence of the engineer to greet him with a nod, still withdrawing to his habits of avoiding eye-contact and being all around sheepish.

“Alright, I’ve got some questions and I want answers.” Tony started, he put his hands on his knees and leaned forwards looking at the fully clad sorcerer in front of him.

Stephen stopped what he was doing and turned around, allowing the cloak to cover the offending mirror for the time being.

“Well then, ask away.” He seemed a bit short - as if not wanting to deal with the here-and-now but knowing he simply had to.

“Well, first off - what the fuck!” Stephen squinted and gave him a clueless look.

“You’re going to need to be a lot more specific than that Stark.”

“Well for starters, where the hell were you during that whole fiasco that you saw  _ everything?  _ … Who the hell was that person if it wasn’t you, and where did he come from?!” Tony had way too many questions and way too little patience.

“‘Where’ is what I’m trying to figure out myself, Tony.” Stephen indicated to the mirror. “From what I’ve been able to gather he seems to be connecting to our reality through an alternate one.” The confusion on Tony’s features was plainly evident.

“He said he was  _ you _ .” 

“Surely that makes sense based on my hypothesis.” Stephen responded, watching him evenly.

“So it came from another reality just to fuck me.” Tony was trying to wrap his head around that.

“I don’t think-” Stephen started but he frowned as he saw the look Tony had on his face.

“Man, if that’s what it takes, if only the you from this-”

“Tony.” Stephen said with a warning tone.

“Well, anyways. Where the hell did you pop out from after he left? It looks like you just portaled in from my room.”

“The mirror dimension, a separate dimension that looks like our own - a vacant empty reality where anything we do in there can’t effect the real world. He trapped me in there when I came to find you.” Stephen started. “... Through your mirror, took my sling ring so I couldn't escape and sealed me in there.” He started to get anxious thinking about how he felt in there and what he had to witness.

Tony nodded with some understanding.

“So you saw everything then?” The engineer inquired, realization that Stephen had been watching him through the entire episode.

"Oh I saw  _ everything _ alright." Stephen responded. Tony had a nervous smile on his face but the sorcerer’s expression caused that to fade quickly. 

Tony didn’t have a problem with being observed, he was shameless in that matter. He did however find some sheepishness in the fact that he’d said a lot of personal things about Stephen - things he  _ did _ want Stephen to know regardless, but not in the way he’d expressed them.

Those were deep intimate details he would have preferred telling Stephen to his face.

“Everything…” Stephen trailed off, a little annoyed that Tony was reiterating the unpleasant experience for him. 

“I don’t know how you could bring yourself to just… sleep with  _ it. _ ” Stephen stated a little sharply.

“Easy. He asked, I said yes. It just seemed like a good _ idea at the time. _ ”

“Tony that thing you slept with, it’s a monster,” Stephen began. “And you knew full well it wasn’t me half way through.”

Tony raised a finger to chime in.

“What exactly constitutes a ‘monster’, Stephen? Because I don’t remember him doing anything inhumane or  _ evil  _ to me _. _ ” It may have sounded like dumb arguing but Tony was deadly serious on the matter. 

He didn’t see a problem _. _

“You saw the state he left me in! You saw the marks and the bruises, don't for a second  _ pretend _ like you didn't! I could barely speak for a day and a half! And then he trapped me so I could do nothing more than  _ fucking watch _ him and you-”  

Stephen trailed off, a lump forming in his throat as he started to get swept up in his emotions. When he’d collected himself, he spoke again.  “I thought he would hurt you and all there would be was this idea that  _ I  _ had hurt you… I thought he'd  _ kill you _ .” 

Stephen’s hands were balled,  _ painfully _ and shaking - more so than usual at his side.

Tony took a moment to register those words, was Stephen legitimately concerned for him?

“He didn't hurt me though, see? I'm fine.” Tony patted himself down for emphasis on the matter. Stephen flashed him an incredulous look that just spoke ‘you simply don’t get it’ like some concerned parent speaking to a child.

“Tony -  _ I'm not! _ And you  _ seemed _ like you cared about that earlier while you were fucking the man who  _ assaulted _ me! So I'm not totally sure what's going through your head right now…” He trailed off into silence, and there was a chilly look that swept over the doctor’s features for a moment. 

Tony frowned a little bit.

“Why is this eating you so much? I technically slept with you, Strange.” He started, trying to reassure the magus in his own way. “And that - I damn well enjoyed it.” He added on as if that would make things any better.

"Then what do you want from  _ me _ outside of physical gratification _? _ " Stephen looked him in the eye, clearly shaking and showing signs Tony recognized all too well as being on the verge of a breakdown.

Tony took in a deep breath, he hadn’t expected their discussion to come to this. But they were doing this now; airing out all their dirty laundry.

"... Do you really think that's all I want from you? Just... sex? Another notch in my belt as everyone seems to believe?" Tony let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand down his face and pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"If all I wanted was sex I'd just keep that other monkey around -  _ that  _ was just for fun.” He started; the figurative train had left the station, there was no stopping it now.

”I want something real, someone to cuddle up to afterwards, to wake up next to in the morning and then to kiss goodnight in the evening." He paused, rolling his head and putting a hand on the back of his neck. "Especially the cuddling. That guy was bristly. He also didn't seem to enjoy being the little spoon. Not to mention he wasn’t one for pillow-talk.”

This brought a hint of a smile to Stephen’s face. 

He broke eye-contact as if embarrassed by his own coming admission, speaking quietly. "...  _ I like those things _ ..."  His gaze dropped to the floor shyly.

“Duh, idiot ! Everybody loves those things - but only if there's an  _ emotional _ connection. Like I said, I don't want to cuddle up with a life-size imitation of you.” That was a lot easier than he thought. “I want the 'real deal.’” 

_ And there it was. _

Tony wasn’t sure if this was really the right moment, but he’d already passed the breach and there was no turning back now. He opened his arms out wide and with the tips of his fingers beckoned Stephen forward.

Stephen seemed uncertain about his actions, hesitating in place as his eyes flickered between each of Tony’s hands.

“C’mere.” Tony rolled his eyes; obviously he had to spell it out.

Stephen continued to hesitate for a moment before taking a few slow steps forward and sitting down beside Tony on the bed.

“You’re really going to make me do this aren’t you?” Tony sighed and wrapped his arms around Stephen’s midsection. The sorcerer flinched in surprise as he was towed into his lap.

He had Stephen’s back against his chest and placed his own chin on his shoulder.

"... at what point would you  **_not_ ** _ forgive me _ ?" He started, taking in a deep breath of Stephen’s scent.

Stephen was having a hard time relaxing, stiff and nervous in his spot, like he was waiting for something.

"... cuz  _ you said it yourself, _ that's  _ another you _ ..." 

Tony made a damn fair point.

To him, and coming from a place of his feelings - it had been Stephen. 

Tony had ultimately done nothing wrong. Things might have gone differently had he known Stephen was trapped somewhere in some fucked up alternate dimension, but to his knowledge - Stephen was admittedly safe.

And so far, although despicable - the shade had done exactly as promised and kept his word on the matter, despite his perverted intentions. 

Stephen had been returned safely to him.

Stephen mused quietly and there was a stillness between them, minutes of not talking as the both of them thought respectively on the situation. And although Tony was not necessarily in the wrong, he did start to take into consideration things from Stephen’s point of view.

Stephen had come to some kind of resolution, and he made that clear with a deep breath before he spoke again.

"I was terrified when he came through the mirror and I thought he might hurt you..." Stephen may have sounded like a broken record, but Tony knew what it was like to be afraid of something and to feel as though no one took your concerns seriously. Strange’s words held a note of fragility, like at any moment he would shatter to pieces if not handled delicately.

“You were?" Tony perked, despite the detail being reiterated - the emotion in Stephen’s voice caught him off guard. Stephen shook his head with a very shy nod. 

"Yes. You mean a lot more to me than you know..." He took in a deep breath.

Tony spun Stephen around so he was sideways against him - this way they could make eye-contact while they spoke. 

Tony was absolutely chuffed to see the redness on Stephen’s cheeks.

"I was  **worried** about you, you asshole! I was scared out of my mind that he was going to  _ hurt you _ . And you're acting like it's fine, it's nothing, it's no big deal! And fine  _ you're _ okay! But I'm  _ not _ okay! I thought I was going to  _ lose _ you before I could even tell you..." Stephen immediately cut himself off.

“Tell me what?” Tony demanded, narrowing his eyes.

Tony could sense the sorcerer’s skittishness from his verbal prodding. He felt like he’d just pinned down an animal that was desperately trying to run for its life. He watched Strange swallow the lump in his throat, muscles tensing as he squirmed under his gaze.

Stephen made a wordless effort to move away but Tony held him down firmly on the spot to keep him from straying.

“Stephen, look at me.” He demanded, Stephen swallowed again and slowly brought his grey-green gaze to meet Tony’s.

“What did you want to say to me?” He inquired, this time a little softer with an added squeeze to emphasize.

"... That I...” Stephen hesitated, before swallowing, his expression becoming something difficult to read. “- I  _ love _ you, Tony.” He paused but seemed uncomfortable with the building silence, so it was moments later he spoke again.

“Why  _ else _ would I be so angry about this? I  _ know _ you aren't mine, not in any way, but... It hurt to watch you with someone who  _ looks _ like me, so  _ happy _ and to think... it's  _ not _ me.”

It was Tony’s turn to flush red. This was on a whole new level.

Sure sleeping with someone for pure sexual gratification was one thing, sleeping with the person of your utmost desires was another - but hearing them openly admit to feelings that you could only dream they had for you?

Tony’s entire world started to spin as if he’d just been hit by a tsunami of feelings.

Stephen had just openly admitted to the one thing he was always longing for from him. And he was here, right now, sitting in his lap and things couldn’t be better!

… Well they  _ could _ , but the moment was still perfect, flaws and all.

"You don't know how long I've been fantasizing about that, waiting to hear those words..." He trailed off, his smile couldn’t get any wider as he held Stephen’s gaze. "The feelings are more than mutual on my end and if you _ had been watching _ you would know the sum of how I feel about you..." He trailed off.

He knew Stephen was very nervous, they both were and it took a lot of courage to admit to something like that, especially from someone as proud and withdrawn as Strange. 

It all made sense now.

"... You wanted to fuck and cuddle. That's not exactly the same as wanting to be the person you come home to after a long day of of work.” Stephen began quietly. “ And the person to hold you when you're hurt and scared, and the person to find out what you like for breakfast, and how you take your coffee and just..."

"But what if that's what I want too Stephen? All of that, the good stuff  _ and _ the bad stuff." He pressed his forehead into Stephen’s shoulder again feeling as if he was standing trial for something.

Stephen turned his hand over so he was now holding Tony’s. His heart skipped a beat but he continued, tentatively prodding.

"... There's a lot of  _ weird _ stuff about me you don’t know. Are you okay with that too?"

Tony chuckled and quirked a brow at the magus as he lifted his gaze again. "What, you think you're the only one with  _ monsters _ in their closet? Or… weird evil doppelgangers in their mirrors?"

"Mine are a  _ bit _ literal. Speaking of that, he took something I  _ want _ ..." He murmured, tugging Tony in closer. He placed his arms around Tony's shoulders, twisting his torso so he could pull the brunette’s head into his chest and cradle it there.

"Well he definitely didn't manage to run off with it." Tony snickered into the fabric of Stephen’s tunic. “Who would have thought, this entire ordeal turned out to be a  _ blessing in disguise _ .” He added softly as he exhaled into the sorcerer’s chest.

“I’ll show you a ‘blessing’…” Stephen snorted with amusement.

Tony looked up at him with a boyish grin.

"Are you just teasing or do you actually plan to back up that threat?" He tugged Stephen’s other leg over so he was fully straddling his lap.

"It's not a threat. It's a promise so long as you're  _ agreeable _ ..." Stephen pressed a kiss to the cheek Tony had presented earlier, and that made the engineer melt.

_ Hot damn, queue the fireworks. _

“Agreeable?” Tony scoffed. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know, might be that you’re too  _ tired _ from  _ earlier... _ ” Stephen’s chuckle was surprisingly warm as his lips moved to press against Tony’s temple gently, mustache grazing against Tony’s skin as the sorcerer moved to press his next kiss along Tony’s jaw.

There was something in the man’s voice that made Tony’s insides feel especially gooey - it was the thing that had been missing with the imposter Strange, a warmth and kindness… maybe it was  _ love _ that made his tone so smooth. 

He felt his hair shift as Stephen’s hand moved to play with the slightly damp locks, and there was no denying the slight trembling there - whether it was worse than usual for nerves Tony couldn’t say, but it was definitely a familiar shake.

“Oh I’m always ready to go, especially if it’s with  _ you _ .” Stephen remained silent as his tongue lightly traced the curve of Tony’s ear and Tony shivered a little as he curled his arms up and around Stephen’s waist more tightly.

But the more they spoke and the closer Stephen got, the more a small voice in the back of Tony’s head seemed to pipe up. 

Stephen had expressed concerns about things being purely physical and god he  _ hated _ the idea of pulling away, but he didn’t really want to ruin a potentially  _ awesome _ thing by not thinking things through properly; by just getting into this too quickly.

“Don’t feel like you need to do this to please me or something.” He crooned softly as Stephen’s teeth caught his earlobe and Tony’s breath hitched. His hands carefully stroked the taller man’s back. “I’m just as happy to take this slow for you, if that’s what you need.”

“I’m doing this  _ for me _ .” The sorcerer’s voice was a whisper against his ear, hot breaths emphasized on the slightly damp areas Stephen’s tongue had been patrolling. “This is because  _ I want this _ .” The words were punctuated by the man’s hips rolling down against Tony’s, and it was impossible to miss the catch in Stephen’s breath as he pressed firmly.

“Okay good, because I  _ definitely _ want this.” Tony swallowed down a soft noise of his own as his hands moved to Stephen’s front again, seeking some kind of opening - or clasp, or hook, or whatever it was that was holding the man’s clothing on. Because that was a thing he  _ didn’t need anymore _ .

He paused long enough to pull back and look at Stephen with a little pout. “And don’t spoil my fun by using magic to undress. It’s like watching someone open your presents on Christmas Day for you.”

Stephen’s lips twitched in amusement as he watched warm chocolate eyes before he simply nodded his agreement. “If you need any help-”

“-No, I’ve got this.” Tony insisted as his dexterous fingers worked at undoing the weird knots at the sorcerer’s waist. Stephen’s fingers traveled slowly over Tony’s shoulders as Stephen made a quiet hum of acknowledgement. 

The sorcerer seemed content to sit in his lap, running his cool fingers along Tony’s collarbone in a slow and deliberate manner and leave his front exposed enough for the engineer to get an idea of what he was working with. Or  _ try _ to get an idea of it. 

Why were these knots so complicated? How did Stephen even do them  _ up _ ?

Managing to at least get rid of the weird ring that seemed to hold a few of the ropes around Stephen’s waist, Tony gave the thing a satisfied smirk as he tossed it to the side to get to work on -  _ geez _ , how many layers of this thing were there?

Stephen’s hands continued to part Tony’s housecoat and the pads of his fingers slowly became the light scratching of nails on flesh. Another shiver ran through him, and this time Stephen made a soft noise of amusement.

“... Are those  _ goosebumps _ , Stark?” He teased lightly, the pads of his fingers running over Tony’s skin again. “Do I really have that effect on you?”

“They’re just speedbumps.” Tony flashed a triumphant grin up to Stephen as he finished with another layer of the man’s fastenings.

“Are you suggesting I should slow down?” Stephen inquired, an eyebrow quirking up in emphasis.

“ _ Or _ , and hear me out here because I know I said I didn’t want you to use magic, but you could maybe… help me with this last part?” The last layer of the cummerbund’s fabric seemed to have no beginning, no end, no seam,  _ nothing _ to even gauge where to  _ start _ on the thing!

Stephen was damn right he was having an  _ effect _ and he knew it, and Tony was stuck fighting  _ belts _ ! Plus there was the whole rest of the outfit to go!

A smirk twisted across the sorcerer’s face for a moment, as Stephen watched him carefully. 

“You could at  _ least _ say ‘please.’”

“ _ Please _ !” It came out of him easily, accompanied by the big guns - puppy dog eyes. They even worked on  _ business Pepper _ \- there was no way they wouldn’t work on this guy.

The smirk softened into a smile almost instantly and Stephen pressed a satisfied kiss to Tony’s forehead before trying to reach for the discarded belts that held his sling-ring. It surprised Tony a little, as he expected Stephen to simply undo the thing by hand. 

Stephen’s fingers curled into the ring and he settled it into place, straightening himself in Tony’s lap again. “Just so you know, you  _ need _ magic to remove it anyway. You didn’t miss anything.” His hand lit up as he explained, and seconds later the band fluttered away to settle delicately on the floor.

“God yes.” Tony’s hands were quickly set to prying the man’s robes apart.

Once the engineer had his sorcerer’s chest completely bare, he made quick work of sinking his lips over the exposed skin, stippling kisses from his collarbone down the center of his chest.

Tony fell over on his back and then twisted his body so the two of them were laying on their sides. His hands curled around Stephen as he persisted in his loving assaults to his front. Lips dotting his abdomen hot with contact leaving a stinging trail in their wake.

He began to crawl overtop of Strange, untangling their legs so he was behind Stephen, perching over his back to trail even more kisses over his shoulder to his neck as he peeled the remaining fabric from the sorcerer’s torso.

“Stark.” It came as a soft comment but Stephen seemed to stiffen a bit as his movements continued. “Wait a moment-” Stephen put his hand up to reach behind himself from his spot on the bed and grab the back of Tony’s head, stilling his movements.

“I want you... In front of me, where I can see you.” His voice was quiet yet commanding as Tony took that moment to register the request.

No doubt to him, an  _ odd _ request.

He wanted to be at Stephen’s backside, to administer those tender-loving kisses to his shoulder, the back of his neck and feel him squirm under his ministrations but  _ for some reason  _ Stephen wanted him in plain view.

“If you wanna stare at me  _ by all means _ ! Feed my ego!” Tony jested softly pressing his face into the back of Stephen’s neck. He wasn’t going to question Stephen’s request, plus it meant that he could look upon the sorcerer’s beautiful face and enjoy each expression he wrought from the man.

“Well, i-it’s because I need to know it’s you… and not, you know…”

Tony reached down and gently pressed a finger to his lips to shush him, cooing softly to the magus.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this? We don’t have to do this right now. You aren’t going to lose me if you’re not _ ready… _ There’s no rush.” He crooned softly down at the doctor - and he meant it. 

Tony understood this was simply something Stephen needed to overcome, and it wasn’t some permanent hold-up. He would be with him every step of the way.

“I’m  _ ready _ . I just need… To feel like I’m in control of my body again…” His gaze flicked to the side tentatively and for a moment he seemed uncertain, as though he thought Tony would be offended… or maybe upset? 

He rolled over underneath Tony to look up at him, seeing no judgement in the engineer’s gaze and just a soft, loving smile reflected down at him. Tony laid himself back down beside Stephen once again like before. 

Effortlessly he towed the sorcerer back onto his front so Stephen was laying on top of him, their bare chests pressing into each other.

The engineer’s hands settled on his hips gently, and he relinquished himself to Stephen, allowing the sorcerer to take things as he wanted them.

Stephen seemed nearly awestruck at how compliant the engineer was to his simple demands. It wasn’t a big deal as far as Tony was concerned, but to Stephen it appeared to be monumental. 

His eyes had become wider, shining with what might have been wonder, or adoration - hell if Tony knew, but he was looking forward to learning those intricacies. Stephen held his breath for a moment, watching him intensely as though he was searching for something.

Tony reflected back up at him like a mirror, hands folded over the small of Stephen’s back as he stared right back up at him, reading the sorcerer as he read the man down below. Based on the way his body slowly relaxed against Tony’s he’d found what he was looking for..

“Kiss me Stephen.” Came the quiet murmur from the engineer.

His eyes flicked from one to the other, taking in the full picture before his eyelids drooped and he was leaning down to claim the man below. Hands at Tony’s cheeks as he held Tony’s head in his palms so he couldn’t turn away and stole the engineer’s lips.

Tony let out a small soft groan into Stephen’s parted lips, following his lead as to not scare the man off. 

Kissing Stephen felt like lightning and fire. He had his assumptions but it paled in comparison to kissing some passionless copy.

However this? This was something he’d not been ready for.

The energy of the sorcerer’s gesture shot through him, a rush of adrenaline in his veins. It was like liquid fire lighting up his nerves, his entire being was hot with emotion and his body reacted to both.

Tony let out a soft longing moan as he chased those lips, receptive and responsive. Hips bucking up against Stephen who was hard-pressed on top of him.

Although his assumption of the other’s stability may have been a little underestimated, he still wanted to treat him delicately, as long as that was what Stephen wanted and needed. 

Stephen was proving to be a little more wanton than Tony had really assumed and Tony was getting the impression the other would make his needs clear enough.

The doctor pressed himself into Tony’s chest, tilting his head to insert his tongue, parting tightly knit lips in an intimate battle for dominance. Stephen exhaled into those hot lips, small moans seeping through the tight spaces as he languidly rolled his hips against the fabric of Tony’s lap. 

Each grind against his body sent a quake of emotions through him and it was like nothing he’d felt before. A cocktail of emotions flooding his entire being as his fingers dug into the soft flesh of his back and pressed their forms tightly together.

Instinct driven body-movements accentuated a voracious tango of tongues while Stephen’s hands held Tony’s face in a prone-upright position to force him to receive. Not that he had any desire to move or pull away - Stephen was leading, setting their pace.

Tony let out a shaky breath completely swept away in the moment, using his thumbs to pry the rest of Stephen’s garments away, sliding the lip of his pants down.

His eyes were shut, absorbed in the heat of the moment and he followed the lip of Stephen’s underwear to reach for his already hardened length and begin to gently squeeze and hold the swollen girth in his clutch.  
  
Stephen groaned and the pleasured sound sent shivers through Tony’s body.

_ Fuck he loved that. _

This ordinarily would have been one of those moments where Tony would have slipped in a comment, something rather to draw attention to the other’s excitement to appease his libido - but there was nothing. 

This moment was sacred and he was just fine letting the scene unfold, and being the main variable in a play that had taken so long to reach its conclusion.

When Stephen finally ended their kiss, he pulled away only enough to brush their noses together gently, and Tony peeked an eye open to find the other man watching him, his eyes heated but gentle. It was hard to place the exact emotion...

“Thank you.”  _ That _ was what it was. 

Gratitude. 

And it seemed perfectly  _ Strange _ in that moment - said in a way that implied Tony was supposed to just  _ know _ what he was being thanked for. He didn’t, not _ exactly _ . He had ideas though, so he simply offered the doctor a slightly breathless smile of his own.

“Just so you know, I’d do about anything for you, Stephen.” He cooed softly, stroking up and down the length of warm hot skin. His other hand rested at Stephen’s hips and he thumbed the top of his thigh as his fingers clasped firmly in their spot.

Tony raised himself a bit, tugging Stephen’s leg to pull him forward, and the doctor scooted up along Tony’s chest.

The brunette had a great view, peering up from below, _ a handful  _ of his soon-to-be-lover,  _ the real one this time. _

Stephen seemed to take his time deliberating his next moves - which was fine with Tony, he’d let the man take things at his own pace.

Spying the shunted bottle of lubricant off to the side in the messy folds of the bedspread he reached for it, Tony’s eyes following his hand as Stephen leaned over and pressed his lips to the engineer’s neck once again.

This was certainly a change of tempo.

He’d half expected Stephen to climb atop him and ride him, but it looked like Tony would be on the receiving end this time.

Stephen used a finger to pop the cap on the bottle, a small strained noise elicited from the soft even strokes Tony gave him. He hunched his shoulders, applying the slick to his palm before reaching down and grabbing Tony’s hand to stop him.

“I’m going to need that back now.” The doctor whispered in a low husky voice, Tony continued to hold that grin and he let Stephen slip out of his hand as he pulled away to reposition himself.

Stephen shuffled back down, nestling himself in the junction between Tony’s legs so his hips were just hovering over his groin. With glossy fingers he pressed into the engineer’s furrow, meeting no resistance as he glided in up to the middle joint of his finger.

Tony took a sharp inhale, eyes shutting tightly as his chest arched and his empty hand found purchase on Stephen’s waist, fingers digging in.

“Oh god that feels so good-” He murmured into the air with a breathy voice.

Stephen kept an eye on Tony’s reactions, enjoying the response to his ministrations and intent on making sure Tony had no objections.

His fingers buried themselves further inside and Tony had to open his mouth letting out a gasped ‘A-aaah’ as bit by bit Strange pressed in to his knuckles.

It took everything to keep Tony from pushing forwards and fucking himself onto Stephen’s finger.

_ Patience. _

“Fuck Stephen, get up here and let me hold onto you.” He huffed, cracking an eye with a strained smile.

“Patience Tony, let me just get things going first.” He soothed with a hearty chuckle, already starting to sound more confident.

He pulled out, then just as soon thrusted his hand in harder - deeper. 

Tony mewled pathetically from the pleasure and he immediately gasped - surprised at the sound he made.

Stephen turned his head with a smirk, satisfied as he splayed his fingers and began to prod around. They stretched, pushed and dragged over the tight inner walls of Tony’s grasping muscles and these gestures made the engineer  _ absolutely squirm. _

His toes curled and breathing hitched as Tony was white-knuckled just from being warmed up. Most of it felt amazing, but a good part of it also came from the fact that this was Stephen doing this to him -  **his** Stephen. It was a mental high.

There was absolutely nothing better than this.

“God, stop teasing and just shove it in me.” Tony breathed.

“If I do that I’m going to hurt you Tony.” Stephen shook his head.

“So? Nothing wrong with that.” He let out a breathy laugh. “There’s a doctor on hand.”

Stephen was incredibly aroused by Tony’s eagerness. He withdrew his hand and Tony shivered again, running his hand over his own prick to slick it over.

Tony felt Stephen’s body shift and he crawled up along Tony’s chest to meet his lips, cock pressed between his legs and ready. Tony took the time to wrap his arms around Stephen’s upper body as the sorcerer braced himself on the mattress, arms on either side of him.

He’d teased the engineer with few abrasive rasps of their body, grinding his hardened prick between between the engineer’s thighs and cheeks.

Each chafe had Tony craning his neck wantonly, arms tightening around Strange as he crushed their torsos together.

Stephen bent his arms and let them slide around Tony’s shoulder’s in response. 

Tony’s already sweaty body flush against Stephen’s heaving chest, groaning as he murmured something incoherent into the air above.

Stephen groaned softly, he had to reach down, forcing their forms to separate as he positioned his cock at the crease of Tony’s rear - and with a soft voice he asked.

“Ready?”

“God  _ yes _ !” Tony’s response was breathy and desperate.

He felt Stephen twist in his hold, shuffling as he guided the tip of his cock through hot, grasping muscle. He pushed in to his crown with a choked groan, and Tony let out some loud grunts in return.

Stephen had a hard time pushing in, Tony was tight - very tight. Not that he really had a chance to sleep with other men very often but he’d forgotten the difference in sensations between a man and a women’s body.

His stomach dipped as he pushed in, dredging deeper into the writhing brunette. Tony gasping and heaving, gripping Stephen’s back and holding him flush against his form as the magus settled back down again, no longer needing to guide himself in.

Stephen grit his teeth, cramming himself in until his hips were firmly against Tony’s ass. The girth of his pelvis shunting Tony’s legs off to the side which Tony locked in place around the small of Stephen’s back.

Tony’s heels dug in, not leaving any room for movement.

“Hold on a sec...” He breathed, chest heaving as Stephen pressed his forehead into the crook of Tony’s neck. Stephen let out a soft hum into his skin.

“I just want to  _ feel you _ for a moment inside of me...” He rasped and directed his nose down into Stephen’s hair so he could nuzzle his face in and take in the man’s scent.

Tony was curled around the magus for dear life, holding onto him as if he’d be whisked away. The sensations he was feeling in that moment were overwhelming - he wanted to appreciate this, step by step and fully experience all of the man in his arms.

Stephen’s lips curled up into a smile, his arms were taut around Tony’s abdomen as he stippled loving kisses into the tender flesh.

Tony’s knees quivered lightly with a slight pain from eagerly forcing Stephen so quickly inside him, but it was  _ good  _ pain. He let off of his heels and Stephen perked rubbing his nose against Tony’s jaw.

“You good?” He rumbled softly.

“Y-yeah.” Tony nodded his head.

Stephen let out a soft exhale as he rolled his hips back slowly and guided himself back in. The sensation of Stephen’s glossy prick grinding along his hold was an insurmountable feeling to him. 

Stephen’s hips would collide with his rear with a gentle tap, their bodies kissing before the magus would pull back and drive himself in once again.

Each successive movement quickening the pace and momentum until Stephen had a moderate to steady tapping going, flesh cracking as their hips connected with each blow.

Every strike rattled Tony to his core, breath hitching in his throat as he was lost in pure bliss. He didn’t need to hold on to anything other than the man in his arms as Stephen kept him thoroughly pinned down, preventing him from being moved from each impact.

Likewise Tony’s cock - pressed between their body’s and chafing against the course snail-trail on Stephen’s lower stomach served equally to stimulate that part of him.

_ It was heavenly. _

His hips tingled and his girth twitched - precum drooling from the tip and matting a small area on their chests as Stephen completely and utterly overtook him.

“God I don’t know how much longer I can hold out...” Tony whined into his hair, he was holding on to Stephen for dear life.

“So don’t.” Stephen huffed with a hitched laugh. He gave Tony one particularly rough rutt before his pace quickened drawing a surprised yelp out of him.

Stephen wouldn’t be far off from his own finality as he continued to plow himself into Tony.

The skin on both men had turned rosy from the force of their connecting bodies and Tony’s fingers tensed as his body gave a few convulsions and he groaned trying to hold himself back.

“I can’t -ffffuck!” he hissed and he locked himself tightly around Stephen, cock twitching as he came over both their stomachs. He heaved, each thrust forcing a spurt of white hot cum over their forms that was immediately smeared and crushed between them with each rutt.

Tony shuddered, his hold weakened and his muscles relaxed as Stephen continued at full force, moments behind.

His oversensitive cock received some abuse from the chaffing of their bodies,  _ but he didn’t mind it. _

Stephen groaned into his neck  _ and it was hot as fuck.  _ He felt the sorcerer squeeze down on him, mouth open to let a loud moan into his neck as Stephen finally reached his orgasm, flooding his insides with his own load.

All of Strange’s weight came down on Tony and he melted over the engineer’s body, heaving and huffing into his skin as he settled there. Having completely emptied himself into the man in his arms Stephen murmured softly into his skin.

“God that felt so fucking good.” He rasped with a blissful smile upturned on his lips.

“You have no idea.” Tony huffed out of breath.

“Well  _ actually _ I do.” Stephen grumbled, placing a kiss against his jugular.

“The other guy’s got nothing on-”

“Tony, shut your beautiful mouth for  _ one _ moment and enjoy this.” Stephen groaned softly, a hint of amusement to his voice in between those exhausted pants. “I do  _ not _ want to hear about  _ any other guy _ right now.”

The engineer clammed up, he let the moment overtake him, quietly and intently focusing on the body pressed up against him.

He’d already run the notions of this situation being too good to be true, but he was still trying to get over the hurdle that he in fact did have the man of his desires cradled so tenderly in his arms.

Today had been pretty damn amazing to say the least.

_ At least for Tony. _

A few minutes passed by of Tony idly running his fingers through Stephen’s hair, he couldn’t help but chuckle as the man resting with his face in his neck moved and the bristle of his beard tickled his skin causing him to squirm and laugh softly.

“So what else did you want to talk about?” Stephen murmured softly against him with a sigh, still draped over Tony’s body like a blanket.

“Well, I honestly thought I’d hit a bigger wall with  _ this, _ so I’m not sure there’s anything else to address.” Tony purred softly into Stephen.

“Yeah, well I'm a sucker for cuddles.” He finally crawled out of his little spot at Tony’s neck to lean up and gaze down at him.

“What about kisses?” Came the engineer’s inquiry accented with a lopsided grin. 

With that he retrieved one of Stephen’s hands from around his midsection which had the magus curious. He lifted it up to his face and began to plant gentle kisses along each of Stephen’s knuckles on the scars trailing down his digits.

Stephen cleared his throat, flustered at such a simple sweet gesture.

He leaned in, stealing his hand back from the engineer as he poached Tony’s lips once more. 

“How are you so impossibly sweet?” Stephen murmured against his lips, and Tony chuckled a bit.

“‘Sweet’ isn’t usually a word people use to describe me, but hey. I can be  _ whatever _ you like.” He grinned a little at the other man. “For the moment however, I’m just a mess.”

“ _ Again _ .” Stephen added with a soft chuckle of his own and a look of utmost adoration. 

“More like  _ ‘always’ _ but what can you do?” Tony paused as the other man slowly pulled out and away from his place, and a mock-pout settled on his features.

“Oh no, is it bath time?”

“You said you think well in the shower. Why don’t we do that?” Stephen suggested as he stood and cast a brief look to where the cloak hung, obfuscating the mirror there. “I  _ did _ come looking for you for a reason, and all the more now… I need to deal with  _ him _ .”

“What happened to  _ enjoying this _ ?” Tony grumbled as he sat up. He wasn’t about to argue with a shower - he definitely needed it.  _ Again. _

“I planned to. In the shower. With you. Talking about how to make sure  _ fake me _ isn’t a problem again.” Stephen offered a smile and a hand and Tony took the hand to stand up a bit slowly.

He supposed he could get behind the idea of a ‘talk’ with a still naked, and much more  _ wet _ Stephen. 

Tony wasn’t  _ exactly  _ sure if he’d manage much productive thinking on the subject of Stephen’s man in the mirror, but he was sure it would be productive thinking anyway.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go get wet.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Mirror mirror on the wall…”

“Can you please _not_?” Stephen sighed at Tony’s relentless enthusiasm. He was in the process of setting up teleportation runes on the back of the mirror that Tony held, and while Tony may have been perfectly comfortable (‘Scientifically excited,’ Tony had insisted) with traveling to an alternate reality for the sake of all of this, Stephen was distinctly more trepidatious.

“Are you sure you’re up for this? There’s no telling what’s on the other side of this thing. For all we know he could have laid traps and snares.” Stephen had begun to warn Tony, his voice stern and serious but the brunette seemed rather fairweather about the whole situation.

“Relax Steph, you talk about the guy like he’s some predator out to kill us.” He placed a comforting hand on Stephen’s back and gave it a gentle rub.

“Well, he kind of is.”

“If the guy’s anything like you - which he is, he’s literally another you - he’d be honest like you and stick with his word. And he has so far, so I’m honestly not worried and he’s nothing I couldn’t deal with - or both of us together.” He let his hand drop, a gentle nudge of his elbow as he looked to the mirror and then back at the magus with a reassuring smile.

“Whatever we find on the other side we’ll face it together. You’re not leaving me behind, and I’m not going to let you face this alone.” There was a confidence to Tony’s voice that inspired Stephen. It was amazing what the power of a resilient personality could instill in one.

“Thank you.” There was a broad smile on Stephen’s face as he leaned over to place a gentle kiss upon the engineer’s forehead. And Tony only returned that by lightly embracing Stephen’s midsection.

“Alright, let’s seal up this damn mirror - I have to admit, I’ll miss the guy.”

“Tony.” Stephen warned flatly.

“I’m just saying, imagine if the both of you-”

“ **Tony** .” The engineer shut up with that _, he was only joking around - or was he?_

Stephen rolled his eyes, he let out a deep breath. He was incredibly nervous, every bone in his body told him this wasn’t a good idea but it was the only solution he could come up with to stop the apparition from coming back into their world.

Of course Tony didn’t seem to have issues with the ‘monster’ but Stephen’s reasons were good enough for him, and he fully supported his choices in the end.

There had been countless hours of discussions pertaining to exactly how they would handle this. Tony had initially opted for Stephen to just get used to not using mirrors - and that idea was promptly shot down. Tony had also been in major opposition to any sort of ideas that revolved around imprisonment or banishment - but in the end locking him out of their own reality would have to be the way to go.

After all, there was no place for this other Stephen in their reality.

_Right?_

Stephen stepped up to the mirror, his cloak had immediately flown to him - but not before nuzzling up against Tony’s cheek affectionately on the way. It latched onto Stephen’s shoulders and he watched as the reflection seemed to ripple and move like a fractal lens.

He stared back at his reflection, _his_ reflection and the faint prismatic tones lazily moved over the surface in a sheen that resembled an oil-slick on water, or pearl satin fabric.

“Ready?” Stephen was nervous.

“More ready then I’ll ever be, let’s go.” Tony was clearly rather more intrepid.

Stephen looked to Tony and the brunette nodded, grabbed his hand and stepped forward through the reflective breach.

The sight that greeted them on the other side was rather unexpected, and even more unpleasant.

The two had touched down in a side room that fed off the atrium of the Sanctum. Stephen could easily identify their location as the Sanctum by it’s magical signature - the place looked absolutely awry, as if it had fallen into chaos.

The architecture of the Sanctum was askew, melted like some horrific Salvador Dali painting in some areas, in others cracks of ley-line fissures sundering through the floorboards and tile work of the Sanctum like half-solidified molten rock, emanating an oddly pulsating glow.

Particles of energy unaffected by gravity floated through the air while mystical and ethereal vermin ran rampant through the structure, cowering just out of their vicinity - but watching. The place was nothing short of a picturesque ‘Alice in Wonderland’ setting it was that surreal.

But this was all _very_ real.

Every part of it was real in this reality and it made Stephen wonder what had gone wrong in this timeline. It did serve to explain one thing though, and this only spurred a myriad of questions as to how the Sanctum fell into this state.

“Is this place supposed to _glow_ like this?” Tony asked from Stephen’s side, and a brief glance at the other confirmed that Tony wasn’t in _awe_ of this so much as anxious about it - the unease was plain in the way he shifted closer to Stephen, watching some of the wisps of magic dance through the air.

“No.” Stephen shook his head, allowing his hand to gently brush against Tony’s arm for reassurance as he refocused his gaze on their surroundings. Tony seemed to accept it for a moment before nanobots began to form his armour around him, and the sorcerer could only nod his approval.

“The Sanctum should _never_ look like this, this is wild magic. This kind of thing can cause magic poisoning.”

To a certain point Tony’s armour would protect him from the ambient magic - he’d need some time to detox from the magic when they got back most likely, but for the time being his suit would have to be enough.

Stephen was definitely going to need backup if his other-self had ready access to wild magic in this dimension. In the end, Tony’s presence was probably well advised.

The cloak bunched itself firmly against his back as he began to lead the way around the room, carefully avoiding the fissures in the floor and sighing heavily.

“ _Okay_ should I know what magic poisoning _is_ ? Aside from… _probably not good_?” Tony’s voice sounded mechanical, so Stephen could only assume the man had chosen to wear his helmet - also a wise choice in the moment.

Stephen fixed up a couple protective charms for himself as he walked, calling on whatever might help prevent the wild magic from seeping into his own.

“‘Not good’ is definitely accurate. Wild magic makes magic act erratically. It’s not even a matter of there being people who can use wild magic - lots of people can _use_ wild magic. But _no one_ can _control_ wild magic and what it does. It’s… _raw_ and _willful_ in it’s own right.” And if this universe’s version of him lived here or had lived here for _any_ prolonged time it was a wonder the man was _still alive_.

“Magic poisoning can disrupt the flow of magic and alter the way it acts… for you it will probably just make you _very_ sick, it may cause some hallucinations of a visual nature, perhaps an audial aspect if it really gets to you. The detox isn’t _so_ bad.”

“Uh huh, you say _‘you’_ like it’s not going to affect us both the same way,” Tony observed, and Stephen sent his clever boyfriend a smirk.

Tony seemed to realize why after a moment.

“Right, of course it wouldn’t. You’re all abuzz with magic, aren’t you? Your whole body is…”

“Yes. The more magic I use, the more magic alters my body… and with magic altering my body, and wild magic altering _magic_ …” His hand moved in a so-on-and-so-forth gesture and he didn’t have to look at Tony to hear him thinking in his silence.

“Will you still get the hallucinations? Do I have to be worried about you suddenly attacking shit that’s not there?”

“No.” The moment it came out of his mouth, Stephen’s expression changed and he sighed, looking back to Tony. “Well, _possibly_ . As I said, wild magic can… cause anomalies in magic. I’ve put up some personal wards against it but eventually those wards will be breached. So we should at least _try_ to hurry this along.”

Tony’s nod was one of firm understanding and Stephen returned it before opening the door into the atrium.

Two steps into the room, the Cloak of Levitation wrapped tighter around Stephen as the sorcerer froze in his spot and immediately hoped he _was_ in fact hallucinating.

 _Nothing_ he saw was okay.

No light shone from the large window of the room, not even the lights of the city outside. No candles were lit in the building, no lights but those from the large cracks and tendrils of magic that shot artfully around the room and a large crystalline centerpiece that seemed to emanate its own familiar blue glow. The centerpiece was clear and its purpose moreso.

It was a memorial. A grave. 

_A coffin._

It held the body of Tony Stark, one that Stephen had only ever known of by reputation - young enough that his hair hadn’t started to pepper with grey, but old enough that the reactor burned dimly in his chest, casting its beautiful light throughout his ornate casket.

To the right of the crystal, a version of Tony’s armour that Stephen was unfamiliar with stood as a silent, dark sentinel, occasionally reflecting back wisps of magic. Those reflections broke over gashes and melted segments of metal riddling the suit.

Tony’s sharp intake of breath beside him was welcome in that moment as Stephen’s hand reached to find the man’s armoured hand, holding it tightly for reassurance.

Tony was alive. _His_ Tony was alive. But he was holding his hand too tightly to be comfortable - he was likely trying to process the sight himself, and as uncomfortable as it was for Stephen to see - he _knew_ how much harder it was for Tony in that moment.

_He knew what it was like to see yourself dead._

But Tony’s voice sounded surprisingly strong as the words rushed out of his mouth.

“What _happened_ here?”

“There was no Iron Man to save us.”

The response came quickly and clearly from elsewhere in the room and a shadow steadily stepped forward around the memorial. A hand settled on the crystal as he circled around before sitting on a small stone ledge in front of it.

His double’s eyes seemed to shine more brightly in this light, piercing blue orbs fixed on the man who stood beside him.

Stephen’s hands raised into a familiar gesture, but those eyes settled on him next as the magic around them seemed to build and change. He left the spell unfinished and watched the other’s attention slowly move back to Tony.

The other magus wasn’t being aggressive, he seemed almost relaxed but for a telltale tightness around his eyes and mouth. A shoulder raised in some attempt at an easygoing shrug, but Stephen knew _himself_ well enough to recognize the pain in the man’s eyes when he spoke again.

“I killed him.”

Stephen backed into Tony, he instinctively corralled the brunette behind him, putting his own body between the Tony and his double.

There was a sudden burning hatred, a sickness that welled up inside Stephen like ichor in the throat. Any semblance of trust for the other and his words, shattered to pieces at the thought that this man, someone who was him in body and spirit had killed someone that was so near and dear to him.

Stephen’s eyes were transfixed, jaw clenched tightly as his mind raced - however he was pulled from his mental frenzy when Tony rested a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Tony had retracted his visor, he needed to give Stephen the eye-contact, trying to calm the sorcerer’s ruffled feathers. And it worked, Stephen caught the brunette’s gaze and there was a silent conversation between the two as Stephen released some of the built-up tension.

He was still uneasy about it all.

As if on trial, the other version of Stephen continued with his chronicle.

“I didn’t _mean_ to kill him. It was an accident. I didn’t even… realize at first.” Stephen could pick up the desperation building in his double’s tone. There was more to this story than was simply offered at face value and Tony’s reassuring clasp on his arm urged him to listen to the other man’s tale.

The other man’s gaze fell back to the crystal and he placed a hand gently over his entombed lover.

“I thought he was still charging the suit. His chest was still lit up - I was _sure_ he was-- but the suit didn’t move. Nothing… moved. He didn’t answer me. It took me so long to get him out of the suit…” Desperation continued to build in his voice and Stephen only realized how tense he was when his jaw started to hurt.

Tony took a couple steps forward and Stephen, still adamant to be a buffer between the two followed suit, staying attached to the brunette’s side, _just in case._

He could only imagine the thoughts churning inside Tony’s head, this was almost too much for him - how was the engineer taking all this? Did he still trust the shade as much as his words dictated? Was he hurt or in pain at the thought of this? Creeped out?

What if all this somehow affected their relationship? Would Tony have second thoughts about him?

_Was coming here a huge mistake?_

“I tried to bring him back. I tried everything I knew and then I went hunting for something I might’ve missed… and I haven’t found anything yet. I was so busy trying to find a way to bring him back I didn’t notice everything else. And then it was too late. Not only had I killed him, but this world that he loved so much… I let it die too.” The shade trailed off, he sounded so utterly dejected in his words.

“I loved him, and I failed him in _every_ way and _I can’t fix any of it._ ” He looked back to the pair that crept in a little closer to him.

“I thought maybe I’d find another to bring back here. If I couldn’t bring back _our_ Tony, maybe I could bring back _a_ Tony... _But then you two were so interesting_.” Tony seemed to recognize Stephen’s discomfort and offered his companion another reassuring squeeze.

The sorcerers seemed steadfast in their gazes locked on one-another. Stephen’s double boring into him with his eyes, there was a hint of resentment in his tone.

“You _loved him_ … more than I expected. And _you_ -” The double’s eyes then shifted again to Tony who donned an unreadable expression at the moment. His next statement directed specifically at the engineer.

“You had him laid out and you _wanted_ him but you _protected_ him. And I needed to know more...”

At that moment it hit him. Anger melted away, resentment, fear and loathing dissolving to make way for something else.

Understanding.

Here was a man, just like himself who’d lost everything so many times over. A man in love and the thing he’d desired most snatched away from him by the jaws of fate. Was it so far fetched that in all the madness, the hysteria, the perversion - that Stephen himself might not turn to the exact path in some future or time line somewhere?

He was dealing with a grieving, broken, _desperate_ man who in the end only wanted one thing in this world.

_And he was denied that._

In all his attempts to search for an answer, a second chance even! He’d lost everything else around him with the demise of his sanity.

And that had Stephen thinking. When he’d been accosted by the shade, had he not been left for Tony to find and rescue him? Maybe not in the best position but the shade had indeed contacted Tony to come and emancipate him.

Every cruel action had masked a deeper more significant truth in the end. No matter what the trial and tribulations were, they all pointed to one ultimate ending and that was for Stephen and Tony to finally come together in the end.

The Stephen of this world was well aware of his feelings, of Tony’s feelings and of the capabilities of their relationship. The end ultimate goal was a selfless act that could have gone any way. It would be hard to forgive his other self for the initial transgressions that lead up to everything, the ends didn’t necessarily justify the means in this situation.

But had that initial push not been there - the two of them most likely wouldn’t be together at this stage in their life. Or at all.

_Right?_

Stephen was pulled out of his thoughts as Tony stepped forward again. He walked up to the other man’s side and took a knee next to him.

“I’m sure he’d forgive you.” The engineer’s soft soothing tone seemed to still the other’s turmoil for a moment, but then he started again in blatant self depreciation.

“I couldn’t even protect the world he loved so much. I couldn’t protect _any_ of them or _do anything_ when we came under attack. I _let him down_ . The _only thing_ I could have done to be worth forgiving and… now I can only protect what’s precious little is left.”

There were a lot of things Stephen had considered in the week that led up to this. A lot of things he thought about doing to deal with this man. In a very raw, low moment, he’d even wished the man dead - not out loud of course, but even the thought had been a sharp slap in the face at how deeply affected he’d been.

But standing there, watching him then, he didn’t seem threatening. He was sad, broken, twisted deeply in some way by loss, desperation and wild magic.

He knew those feelings.

“Where’s Wong?” Stephen ventured softly, wondering at where things had gone so awry. Had this other him even met Wong?

“The Titan killed him… took the Time Stone,” the other whispered in return, sounding exhausted. “We thought it was safe. If _I’d had it_ …”

“You would have used it to bring Tony back. Wong wouldn’t have let you.” That was an easy enough conclusion to come to, and the way the man’s gaze dropped away confirmed it. He briefly caught the haze of moisture in the other sorcerer’s blue eyes before it was blinked away.

“... If you came here to kill me, you should know that I’m the only thing keeping any of the Sanctum’s magic at bay. I won’t go down without a fight. I _have_ to protect what’s left…”

“We aren’t here to kill you.” Stephen stepped up in front of the man, resting a hand on his chin to draw his face up again, looking him carefully in the eyes.

He looked… _disappointed_.

Pain struck like a dagger in the heart at what reflected back at him in the other’s eyes. It hurt desperately to empathize with these feelings so fiercely, to know where they came from and why.

But he also knew what he’d need, if it were him that was there in that moment.

 _So desperately alone_.

Stephen’s gaze softened before he closed his eyes and leaned in to press a sweet, gentle kiss to the other’s lips. He preened a thumb along the other’s jaw with a nurturing tenderness. He felt the other man tense, and then sag solemnly into his hand.

The shade had said it himself - _he should learn to love himself_ . This wasn’t the same thing, but it might be _close enough._

Of course his double had also made it clear that the affections he sought were Tony’s. Stephen couldn’t give the man back the one he’d killed but…

He pulled away from the kiss and watched the other lean forward a little, chasing his lips before blinking his eyes open and fixing him with a disconcerted expression. Stephen’s eyes turned to Tony and he swallowed his nerves and embarrassment as Tony gave him an openly surprised look, which soon turned into something much more sultry.

Tony’s eyebrow quirked and he looked between Stephen and his double for a moment with an inquisitive look.

Stephen cleared his throat and turned away to hide his blush.

“... If you two… wanna… y’know…” Stephen offered simply, not bothering to look at either of them to see their expressions. Tony had made it clear earlier that he was on board with that kind of thing - that it was no issue to him. So it wasn’t as though he expected him to reject the offer.

“Not _without you_.” Tony’s voice struck him with a certain weight and Stephen’s gaze snapped to him quickly, a little surprised by the firmness of both his tone and his gaze. It was sure and steady, and the man took a pointed step towards him to take a hand gently into both of his.

To say he wasn’t expecting it would have been an understatement - not so much that Tony wanted his participation, but that Tony was _adamant_ about it. Stephen glanced shortly at his silent double, before settling on his boyfriend’s hand in thought.

His brows furrowed as he considered the suggestion.

Stephen had felt pretty sure he didn’t want that this morning, not with how playfully Tony was suggesting it - like it might’ve been a teasing flight of fancy - but when he looked up again, Tony’s gaze remained steady and warm.

If the sorcerer was opposed, Tony wouldn’t push him on this subject. He could simply say ‘no’ and Tony wouldn’t press the matter further or cast judgement on him.

He was certain of that.

He didn’t fear saying no. He didn’t fear repercussions. Not from Tony… and oddly, not from his other self.

He could choose to walk away.

There was no expectation to weigh in on for Tony, this was simply about Stephen and how comfortable he could make him given the magus’ proposal.

Some more quiet moments of deliberation and Stephen passed Tony a subtle nod, a little uneasy but wholly decided on the course of action he chose to take. In turn, Tony nodded as well - all of their discussion laden in the exchanged glances and subtle nuances of their postures and expressions.

“I think _we’re_ game for round two.” Tony chirped enthusiastically and Stephen nodded.

Confusion and bafflement was all that could describe the shade. Surprised that the query was met, but even more shocked that Stephen would chose to partake in the lascivious endeavour after everything he’d been put through.

That wasn’t to say he wasn’t keenly delighted by the idea of such an intrepid adventure with the both of them - but shock was laden in his disposition.

“Well then? Shall we go? We most certainly do not plan to stay here any longer if you will be joining us. My wards won’t last long and Tony doesn’t have any sort of proper protection against the exposure of wild magic. He’s the most prone here to its toxicity and neither of us want that. ” Stephen had already moved into the archway to the room they’d arrived through, Tony as well watching for the shade to follow.

There was a moment's hesitation before the other magus nodded and a skip and a hop to his step as he half-jaunted over to the two men waiting patiently for him to follow along. Stephen turned and re-opened the portal through the mirror in the next room, waiting for Tony and the shade to follow through before he sealed it shut.

Despite the certainty of Stephen’s decision, he was _very nervous._

He was put in the position of facing his fears and if he was given the choice of being alone once more one-on-one with this other sorcerer, he would surely not be nearly so resilient. But Tony was here now, here with him in this and that was enough to bolster him to push through his mental barriers to see this through.

Only moments after the dimensional portal had been sealed off had Stephen’s wrist been seized by his double and he was rather abruptly pulled into a kiss.

Stephen flinched, startled by the notion, nerves still frayed from his mental deliberation. A brief panicked flutter of his eyes around the room brought his gaze to Tony’s wholly intrigued expression, reminding him that things would be fine. He wasn’t alone in this, he wasn’t powerless, he wasn’t abandoned...

He let himself relax and his anxiety began to melt away with a renewed confidence.

There was no patience to wait and ask for permission, Stephen had felt his double’s lips fiercely against his own. One wrist seized which he found himself curling a shaky fist into the other sorcerer’s robes and another hand coming up to grab the soft hackles on the back of the sorcerer’s neck.

He’d had enough of this damn guy pushing him around. This was _his_ reality and his game, they would play by _his_ rules.

He’d felt the other’s tongue force it’s way past his parted lip and in retaliation he pushed right back. Tongues curved and dipping against one another in a frenzied tangle of hot muscle as he gave as fiercely as he got and then pressed further - twisting his head and tilting his jaw to force the other down in some sort of submission.

Stephen continued to push, forcing their bodies together and crowding his space until he had the shade back-peddling… _right into a desuited Tony._

This seemed pretty unexpected to his double, he’d let out a delighted ‘mmmph’ against Stephen’s lips as his back pressed flush against Tony’s abdomen. In turn the engineer placed his hands on the shade’s hips and stood ground keeping the doppelganger thoroughly wedged in between their two muscular forms.

Stephen grappled the back of his neck leaving no room for the other to gain leverage - Tony, nosing his way through the collar of the magus’ tunic.

Tony would let Stephen dictate their engagement and as for the other?

He seemed in no hurry to complain, just as happy to be along for the ride - and even for the stark change in roles after their first encounter.

Stephen’s gestures grew bolder and more courageous yet with an edge of defensiveness still. Tense fingers sifted through the folds on the front of the other man’s indigo tunic, coarsely running over his chest before magic was called upon to remove everything on his double but his underwear.

Tony was rather confused for that split second when he was no longer pushing fabric aside to reach the other man’s neck. It was easily shrugged off by logic and he swiftly adapted and began to pepper bristly kisses along the shade’s bare shoulder.

An arch of the shade’s neck as he attempted to pull back to let out a soft pleasured groan, turned on in that moment from having two men ravishing him from the front and back. Tony’s teeth grazing his skin and assaulting it leaving ghostly tingles in the wake of his kisses, while Stephen slipped his hand out of his double’s distracted clutch to cup his groin, fingers curled under the pronounced bulge in the fabric, pushing up into it with a firm grasp.

“So forward...” He retreated from Stephen’s tantalizing lips long enough to prod at him with a sultry comment. “I never expected this of you Stephen...”

“Shut up.” He growled back softly as he chased those lips. The shade threw his head back against Tony’s shoulder presenting his neck to the sorcerer in front and Stephen took the sweet bait.

He clamped his lips down on his jugular, suckling the flesh on his skin and crushing him further into Tony. The engineer simply hummed softly in an almost purr as he watched the two duke it out against him, thoroughly enjoying the position he was in.

“Well if you boys can’t figure out which one of you is going where... How about you both go down on me. Or one of you - it’s all the same to me.” He suggested huskily against the shades neck, lips grazing over the flesh continuously as his gaze landed on Strange.

Stephen gave the man in his clutch a firm squeeze - this blessed him with a soft moan of pleasure from the the other sorcerer, and he let go with his other hand to gesture to the bed.

“Tony - bed, _now._ ” And the eager engineer swiftly conformed to his demand, backing up and letting go of the shade (although rather reluctantly) and sitting back, propped up on his elbows to look at the two men.

Stephen spun his double around, grabbing the back of his neck once more and angling him down so he was nestled in the juncture of Tony’s now spread legs.

It felt good taking the lead for once, empowering even. Especially since whatever frustration or disdain he had towards the other version of him was melting away as he asserted himself over him.

Once again, the shade seemed all too delighted to comply.

Where once Stephen was the one on his knees, the tables had completely turned as he was towering over the man who once completely subjugated him. And the man being bent to his whims seemed to be _enjoying_ it.

Stephen remained still with an iron clutch on the back of his double’s neck pressing the shade’s face up into Tony’s vivid bulge. The fabric of Tony’s pants did nothing to hide his very evident _anticipation_.

“My... so pushy. You could have asked--” The shade mouthed into Tony and the brunette shivered with a soft grunt in delight.

"I'm not _asking_ for anything from you. I'm fairly certain turnabout's fair play after what you've done." The shade only responded with a husky chuckle, nosing into the fabric of Tony’s crotch. Again there were no signs of resistance, the other sorcerer had no intention of putting up a fight, he looked thoroughly entertained by the motions.

“Steph-” Tony looked up at Stephen as if to communicate something and Stephen slowly nodded, easing up on his hold.

Tony’s hands came down, fingers curled and nails dug themselves lightly into the double’s seemingly perfect hair, ruffling the grey streaks and perfect disposition. In steady, tender-loving strokes Tony combed through, massaging the magus’ hair. It sent shivers down the subjugated man’s spine and he melted between the engineer’s legs.

He was so unbelievably hard from both the display in front of them and the soft lips playing at his bulge. Stephen’s forwardness was also adding to that for sure.

Mid-thought and the shade already had his fingers articulately undoing the buckle of Tony’s pants and soon the button and zipper followed. He peeled the man’s trousers back and began to shimmy the fabric down from Tony’s waist.

Teeth hooked in place where fingers previously were, he kept a gaze fixed on Tony as he bit and dragged the fabric lower over his hips - this earned him a swat on the ass from Stephen causing him to abruptly halt.

" _No_ . You weren't given _permission_ to do that, were you?" A shiver ran down the shade’s back in response and he removed his hands from Tony’s hips, folding them behind his back obediently.

Stephen was once again pleased and _Tony was even more turned on._

“Good boy.” A gentle hand molested the abused area and Stephen followed the shade’s gaze up to Tony. “Has he been obedient by your standards, Tony?” Stephen purred in a silky smooth tone. At that point Tony wished he’d been in the shade’s position, jealous almost.

“Should we give him what he’s after?” In actuality Tony was probably more impatient than the man anxiously waiting to jump him between his legs. But he would follow Stephen’s lead; this was about making him feel comfortable with the other and so far he would rather have this with the three of them, rather than give it up altogether out of respect for Stephen.

“I usually don’t wait for permission for things I want, I generally just take them.” The shade almost growled, eagerness and annoyance a hint in his voice. He played their game regardless, and with an oh-so-perfectly-mannered request and a pleased grin he husked, “May I, Tony?” in that soft, sultry tone.

“Hells fucking yes!” Tony blurted out without a moment’s hesitation and his hand stroked the side of the shade’s cheek in an affectionate manner.

To be honest Tony did his best to play the ‘hard dom act’ but he just failed so miserably given how excited he was. Stephen had to roll his eyes at this but it was adorable and endearing all the same.

The shade already had Tony’s waistband down exposing his rock hard disposition, nose brushing against the bristly treasure trail leading to his groin as ushered the concealing fabric off. Tony shivered in delight and his eyes closed as he felt the shade’s hot kisses scorch over his sensitive flesh. He planted gentle kisses along the underside of his cock as he warmed the engineer thoroughly with his ministrations and the brunette threw his head back and simply enjoyed the ride.

The doppelganger had taken Tony’s girth entirely in his maw, deep-throating the brunette’s hardened girth with delight while Stephen cupped his hands around his double’s waist, firmly standing behind him. As the shade busied himself tending to his lover’s needs, Stephen began to grind himself against the fabric of his underwear, rubbing between the shade’s ass cheeks.

He pressed in enough so that the other magus could _feel it,_ abrasively bumping his own cloth-covered erection into the valley of the other man’s backside. This turned the shade’s mouthy attendance sloppy and he groaned through his mouthful _._

Stephen was content to watch his double go down on Tony, each time he lurched forward he’d press in synchronously with the bobbing of his head. In return he felt the other press back, crushing his backside into his hips.

That felt good. Everything about this felt _good_ \- amazing even.

“Ah, I’m not sure if you want me to take this further - you’ll have to let me know if you do.” Stephen cooed with a devious tone. The shade sputtered and Tony’s wet cock fell out of his mouth as he turned to snap at Stephen behind him.

“Stop beating around the bush and stick it in already!” Was there a hint of a whimper to his voice? Desperation even?

“Ask nicely.” Came Stephen’s heavy response as he ground himself up, a little softer this time.

“... Please.” It was reluctant, but cooperative.

“Better.” Stephen’s voice washed over the shade like a thick glaze of caramel. There was no distinguishing when Stephen had removed his clothes, assuming he’d used magic but the next thing that came was his shaky hands snaking in under the waistband of his double’s underwear and tugging it down to his thighs causing him to shudder.

His double was clearly enjoying the harsh treatment, playing along and that only fueled him further.

“Tony...” Stephen said, raising a hand as if asking to have something placed within his clutch. Tony immediately stretched over to grab the stray bottle of lubricant minding its own business before passing it to him.

Stephen squirted a generous heap onto his palm, brushing the surface of his hands together to warm the substance before applying it to his dick. Two slick fingers pushed into his double’s fold unceremoniously and he began to stretch and splay his fingers within to warm him up.

He didn’t take his time, rather he pressed in to his knuckles to ease the muscles just enough before his attention went back to his dick, groping along the shaft to coat the hot length with slick and then pressing up against the shade’s furrow once again.

This drew a shudder out of the man as he anxiously awaited what came next.

True, Stephen’s tending wasn’t the most _loving_ in any sense, but as soon as the shade felt the crown of Stephen’s cock demanding entrance and slipping in his mind went blank and he once again groaned loudly into Tony’s cock wholly occupying the spaces of his mouth.

Stephen pressed in, inch by inch he penetrated the man beneath him and then with a small jerk he closed the gap between his hips and the other man’s ass out of instinct, causing him to jolt and let out a somewhat surprised yelp.

“Hell - watch it, I wasn’t even this rough with you, fuck!” Came the protest from the man beneath him. Stephen, underestimating the pain tolerance of the man below him, dialed back his efforts to make him a little more comfortable.

“Less talk, more fuck.” Tony moaned softly and his hand traced back to the shade’s jaw once again, beckoning for him to take him in his mouth.

Stephen adjusted his hands so his hold was less desperate and much more nurturing, thumb lightly brushing over his double’s skin as he lead over and just relished the moment.

_This felt really good…_

In that moment he made a grab for the shade’s dick, resting his abdomen upon his double’s backside as he tended to his neglected cock. Soft, steady strokes to nurture the other man in reconciliation for his past eager mistakes, keeping his hand there idly stroking as he began the motions of pulling back and then slowly pressing back in again.

As Stephen sensed the man beneath him easing his tense muscles, he began to pick up the pace, railing him at moderate intervals as he closed his eyes and worked the man’s girth within his clutch.

In the heat of the situation the shade desperately attempted to retake Tony, steady him even with one hand but it was rather sloppy with the even rutts from Stephen. Soft mewls and moans reverberating against the thick girth in his maw as each thrust pushed Tony deeper into his throat causing him to sputter less than gracefully.

Tony didn’t care, he was enjoying the the scene that played out in front of him and _thoroughly_ enjoyed the attention to his cock even more, despite not getting the most expert of _care._

To call the sensation of being penetrated from both sides by two men was overwhelming was an understatement. Especially considering that the one in his mouth was the absolute picture of his desire.

Stephen’s thrusts were whole-bodied and unrelenting, he plowed into him at a steady pace causing the the poor sorcerer sandwiched between them to lose himself in a fit of lust and euphoria. At this pace it really wasn’t long until the poor man broke and neither Stephen or the man in question had any problem with that.

Stephen continued to thrust into him, leaning over and stroking him tenderly, hand running up and down his slickened cock with care. It was too much to bear and it was only moments later the shade found himself tensing and spilling himself over Stephen’s grasp with a defeated moan that reverberated over Tony’s dick.

“This is _way_ too hot.” Tony hissed softly.

“Fuck!” Eyes closed he cracked one to watch the second version of Stephen crumple between the two of them. Tony made efforts to keep the shade in place, leaning up with both hands cupping his face with care.

The sight and senses alone brought Tony to his climax in close second after, pressing in and filling the shade’s maw with white hot seed that poured in. Most, consumed, but that didn’t stop the trickle of a few stray lines that dripped down from the corners of his upturned lips and he simply let Tony’s cock slide from the warm confines of his mouth to look up and rest his chin on his stomach.

Stephen’s double was panting, defeated, a mess between the two of them with a hint of mild embarrassment laden on his flushed cheeks. But despite that, he looked rather _pleased_ …

"I guess _you_ got what you wanted, too, huh?” Came the breathless groan as he finally closed his eyes. Happy with himself and even more so happy that he’d gotten _Tony_ off.

Stephen wasted no time as he plowed himself into his double’s behind. He wasn’t quite done yet - but he was close, and the man below him seemed hard pressed to simply lounge there as a passive partner.

The doppelganger’s hands reached to gently stroke Tony’s thighs for a moment, before he grinned a little to himself and rolled his hips forcefully back in counter to Stephen’s forward thrust, drawing a surprised moan from the man behind him. Once the man was fully seated, the shade offered a controlled contraction of muscles around the other’s cock just long enough for Stephen to pull out, before relaxing again to rock his hips back against the other.

It was still a good couple rounds of rough thrusts and connects before Stephen reached his peak, melting over his double’s back and pressing his forehead into his shoulder with a soft groan of completion. He dropped down and towed the man he had in his arms with him, hand a mess and sticky with the other’s white-hot fluids.

He didn’t pull out, rather just slumped over in that spot, taking the moment to really connect with the man in his arms despite it just being another version of him.

Stephen’s arms squeezed the man in his hold and he planted slow gentle kisses along his shoulder blade as he leaned into him. Eyes closed as he let out a slow exhale before slowly pulling out and in a matter of moments the cloak was summoned to lift Stephen’s double up and onto the bed.

The shade was confused but a sigh escaped his lips and a hand came up to stroke the cloak’s collar fondly as he was deposited on the mattress.

“Oh… we're doing the cute cuddly thing are we…?”

“Yes, and you’re going to like it.” Stephen grumbled and got to his feet, crawling up alongside him and once again putting him between himself and Tony. He’d slipped in behind the other man’s backside and wrapped his arms around his midsection, resting his head on his shoulder.

“This is part of the package deal, _so deal with it_.” Stephen snorted as he curled up against him. It wasn’t exactly the shade’s particular flavour, but then he’d been thoroughly satisfied and he wasn’t about to argue considering he’d gotten exactly what he wanted.

Tony slipped up, pulling the covers over of them with the cloak included.

The shade grumbled but didn’t protest considering Tony had taken up the spot in front of him, his arms wrapped around his waist from the front and face nestled softly into the crook of his neck.

“I guess we should discuss the subject of whether you should be allowed to stay here or if we send you back…” Came Stephen’s gravelly voice from behind, and that caused the double to stiffen with worry a little. “We were planning on simply sealing you back into your realm…”

‘Were’ being the keyword in that sentence, and the shade held his breath for a moment.

“I hope there’s more to that.” The shade remarked softly.

“I did say ‘ _discuss_ ,’” Stephen murmured, pressing his nose lightly to the back of the shade’s neck. “There are certain things I feel it’s only fair we ascertain before deciding on the appropriate course of action. For one thing… how has the wild magic not killed you, yet…?”

“Oh, _someone’s curious_ are they?” The doppelganger’s smile was a small thing, but he gave a slow roll of his shoulder for a moment before making a quick hand gesture.

In a brief flare of magic there was an odd, red light glowing from around the man’s torso. A long, glowing crimson band marked with strange patterns and less strange runes wrapped around him tightly from one wrist snaking around his torso and down to the other wrist in a long line.

Stephen jerked back slightly in surprise, recognizing that fabric from a few weeks ago - moreover, with the cloak settled atop him it didn’t take long to realize _what the fabric was_.

His fingers curled into his cloak for a tense moment and the shade’s head tilted to look at the other magus.

“I didn’t do this to the cloak. It was just... another thing I couldn’t protect. There’s too much of it missing now to repair properly, so I did what I could with what was available to me. It was around the same time I sewed in the binding runes.”

Stephen watched as the other turned his head to face forward once more, seeming to examine the bands around his arms thoughtfully.

“... Those are markings of Cyttorak?” Stephen inquired softly, looking at the ones over the man’s back, feeling the power in the radiant crimson aura. “But you’re not binding your own magic.”

“No, of course not. Why would I bind my own magic?” The shade inquired indignantly.

“Because you’re a danger to those around you.”

“Hm. Not unless I _want_ to be. In any case, these runes prevent my body from being any further conduit for wild magic. It doesn’t fix what’s already been done, but it’ll keep me alive.”

“How would you feel about staying here for a while? I can aid you in getting it out of your system.” Stephen offered quietly as his fingers reached to trace over the fabric before feeling it slowly press back. Even his cloak seemed curious about the bunched fabric, nudging at it and fluttering a little at the response it received. The other’s cloak, even in its state, appeared to still be sentient in whatever manner such artifacts were sentient.

But while the ribbon of cloak responded to his touch, the shade pulled away to bury his face against Tony’s chest with a huff.

“I still have things to protect… _for him_. I can’t be away from my reality for too long…”

Tony’s hand found its way into the doppelganger’s hair again and the man fell quiet, seeming content to just be stroked and held. Stephen’s eyes met the brown ones of his companion, and the sorcerer offered a soft smile.

“Well, we can’t have you just coming and going as you please. As I said, the intention had been to lock you out of our reality.”

“And you’ve twice made a point of that being a past thing. Does my ass have benefits that are really _that good_ ? Or did I do something _right_?” The shade asked, his voice muffled against Tony’s chest as he snuggled in, entirely at peace in his place with fingers combing through his hair that way.

“I think it might actually be the benefits of your ass after all.” Tony chuckled a little, casting a wink at Stephen, which was met with a thousand-yard stare.

“There are going to be _rules_ if you’re going to be visiting. That’s the point I’m trying to make here.” Stephen sighed. “Even _you_ can respect some boundaries, can’t you?” Stephen continued softly, reaching over to take Tony’s hand and in turn the engineer curled his fingers around the magus’s shaking digits.

“What kind of rules are we talking about, exactly?” the shade inquired, voice quiet enough to mask his tone.

“No surprises - and popping up unannounced counts as a surprise. So just generally _no sneaking up on me in particular_ for the love of the Vishanti.”

“What, you didn’t like my surprises? I enjoyed our _little struggle-snuggles_.” Stephen’s double chuckled a bit, pulling away from Tony’s chest for a moment to cast a glance at the other magus again. He received a slight swat to his bared shoulder and a stern frown.

“I’m _serious_ .” Stephen stated sharply and the playfulness in the other’s face faded into a solemn expression, accompanied by a nod of understanding. “Also, you’re limited to _one_ mirror, and there’s no arguing on that - I’m not budging. You get _one_.”

The shade was in no position to argue and in all honesty they were fair rules considering they weren’t very imposing and there really weren’t that many of them.

“That’s it…?” He inquired and there was silence for a moment in the room. For a brief time, he thought that was really all there was, before Tony piped up.

“Whatever mirror you come through… it can’t be a bedroom mirror. We deserve to have our own privacy too. No sudden mirror appearances in the bedroom to ask to visit.”

Two pairs of blue-grey eyes looked up at him and Tony watched the nearest pair steadily.

“I don’t mind you _joining us_ sometimes, but on the whole _our personal spaces remain personal spaces._ I don’t think that’s a lot to ask.”

The shade watched him evenly for a few moments more, considering Tony’s words before sighing and nodding.

“I accept these terms. I take personal spaces to include bathrooms?” The way Stephen flinched at his back was answer enough and the shade shrugged a shoulder again and slowly sat up.

“Got it. And also not got a lot of time. I should… probably head back soon.” The shade glanced at the arms tangled over his waist with a soft smile, a hint of warmth settling into his features even as the other two men sat up to join him, arms wrapping around him further as he found himself squished into an awkward hug.

“... You two are _disgusting_.” He grumbled softly without any bite. It wasn’t hard to tell the man was enjoying the affections - and as one of only however-many-people left on his version of Earth, Stephen could understand why.

“We’re not rushing you out, you know that…”

“I know, I know. I just… got ahead of myself here. I shouldn’t have left the Sanctum for so long, I didn’t put up enough defenses and… It’s nearly time for patrol.”

There was a collective sigh and in the time it took the cloak to shuffle itself out from under the blankets, Stephen and his double seemed to dress themselves again (which was _bullshit_ as far as Tony was concerned! _Not fair at all_!) and slip from the bed.

Tony took his time attempting to untangle himself from the blankets, so by the time he stood and looked up there was _quite a sight_ for him once again.

It was a slow kiss and challenging to tell which Stephen was which, though it hardly mattered. There was a gentle intensity to the way they kissed, fingers brushing absently over cheeks, through hair, over a jaw in a barely distinguishable mess until one of the pair seemed to catch Tony staring and grinning.

An embarrassed look crossed the man’s face and it was suddenly clear which Stephen was which.

“Don’t… just _don’t_ say a _thing_ , Tony.”

The doppelganger glanced back at Tony and offered a small grin of his own in return as Tony blinked in mock innocence at Stephen.

“But I want kisses! Me too, me too!” He demanded in a manner that playfully evoked a pampered child.

“You’ll have to wait.” The shade shrugged, casting Tony a playful look as he rather swiftly wrapped an arm around Stephen’s waist.

“The adults are kissing.” And before Stephen could think to protest any, the shade made quite a show of dipping Stephen as he kissed the man with a certain ferocity.

At first Stephen seemed as though he might try to push away, but with his legs partially swept out from under him, he eventually gave in. He responded by simply wrapping his arms around the other man and surrendering to the kiss.

A cat-call was sufficient to convince the shade to allow him to be upright again and before he could instigate anything else he found himself crowded against Tony instead. Brown eyes settled hotly on his own and Tony smirked a little.

“I _said_ I want kisses too. I better get them. _Now_.”

“... well fine, if you’re going to be so _demanding_ about it.” The doppelganger chuckled, releasing Stephen entirely to allow the man to deal with opening the portal, and brushing his freed hand delicately along Tony’s jaw.

“That’s a whole lot of talking for ‘now.’” Tony grumbled more pointedly, but he indulged the other man in his moment of tenderness, then watched the brief spark light in the other’s eyes before he leaned in for a voracious kiss.

It was shorter than either of them might have wanted, but a brief wink from the taller man left Tony all smiles as he unraveled his arms from around the shade and watched him walk to the mirror before passing through it entirely.

Tony’s hand curled into Stephen’s and it felt odd for the engineer not seeing his reflection in what he knew to be a mirror - a mirror he’d used to dress himself practically every day for the last couple of years, no less - but stranger still when Stephen’s reflection went from waving at them, to _showing_ his reflection again.

Stephen watched him with a hint of amusement as Tony reached forward to touch his hand to his reflection’s, before looking at Stephen again.

“Curiouser and curiouser, Doctor Strange, I must say.”

“I get the feeling you should be getting more accustomed to such curiosities, Mister Stark.” Stephen responded with a hint of a smile.

“I’m _looking forward_ to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, friends. End of the road. This was an interesting journey and your support has been so inspiring for both of us, comments, kudos, bookmarks and all!
> 
> Thank you for joining us along the journey of bringing this story to life!


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